Food Stamp Program Access Study: Final Report

By Susan Bartlett, Nancy Burstein, and William Hamilton, with the assistance of Ryan Kling, Abt Associates Inc. ERS project representative: Margaret Andrews

E-FAN No. (03013-3) 482 pp, November 2004

The Food Stamp Program Access Study was motivated by a desire to learn whether and how the administrative policies and practices of local food stamp offices influence the chances of eligible households participating in the program. This report examines the participation decisions of potentially eligible households, together with the local office policies and practices that may enhance or inhibit program access. The findings indicate that many households with no recent contact with the FSP would apply for benefits if they believed themselves to be eligible. In addition, outreach activities are effective in communicating eligibility to nonparticipating households. The processes of application and recertification—and to a lesser extent, complying with ongoing program requirements—are hurdles that a sizable number of apparently eligible households fail to surmount. When surveyed, applicants and program dropouts cited various procedural obstacles as factors in their decision not to participate. The econometric analysis also identifies a number of office practices that vary across offices and appear to be significant in participation decisions.

Keywords: Food stamp program, FSP, food assistance, program nonparticipants, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, FANRP, ERS, USDA

In this report ...

Chapters are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

• Abstract, Acknowledgments, Contents, Executive Summary, 158 kb
• Chapter 1: Introduction, 61 kb
• Chapter 2: Study Design, 177 kb
• Chapter 3: Characteristics and Perceptions of Potentially Eligible Nonparticipant Households, 110 kb
• Chapter 4: Applicant Households, 117 kb
• Chapter 5: TANF-Diverted Households, 77 kb
• Chapter 6: Households That Left the Food Stamp Program, 113 kb
• Chapter 7: Local Food Stamp Office Policies and Practices that May Affect Participation Decisions, 138 kb
• Chapter 8: Impact of Local Food Stamp Office Policies and Practices on Selected Aspects of Participation, 191 kb
• Chapter 9: Conclusions: How Local Offices May Affect the Program’s Accessibility to Eligible Households, 66 kb
• Bibliography, 33 kb
• Appendix A: Sample Design and Analysis Weights, 190 kb
• Appendix B: Supplementary Descriptive Tables, 1,079 kb
• Appendix C: Statistical Methods for Multivariate Analyses, 158 kb
• Appendix D: Supplementary Models, 307 kb
• Appendix E: Data Collection Instruments Used in the Study, 839 kb

• Entire Document, 3,734 kb

Updated date: November 17, 2004