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Food Stamp Program: Reporting of Application Activities Could Be Improved

RCED-88-156 Published: Jul 14, 1988. Publicly Released: Jul 21, 1988.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the reliability of the Food and Nutrition Service's (FNS) statistics on households applying for, approved for, and denied food stamp benefits, focusing on: (1) FNS instructions and requirements regarding states' reports on application, approval, and denial information; (2) the definitions and procedures states used to aggregate, record, and report application information; (3) the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and states' oversight of recordkeeping and reporting practices; and (4) how states and USDA used application information.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FNS, as part of its oversight, to provide clear and understandable definitions for reporting food stamp application information and guidance, to ensure that states report the information according to FNS requirements.
Closed – Implemented
FNS issued guidance in April and August 1988 to each regional office regarding data being reported by the states to ensure its clarity.
Department of Agriculture To ensure that states are accurately reporting the food stamp application information, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FNS, to develop specific plans and written procedures for: (1) monitoring the states' application information to ensure that it is reported according to FNS requirements; and (2) using the reported information to evaluate state performance.
Closed – Implemented
FNS has provided guidance to regional offices and will continue to provide additional guidance in the future to monitor and improve the states' reporting performance.

Full Report

Full Report (36 pages)

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Topics

Worker and Family Assistance
Data collectionEligibility determinationsFederal records managementstate relationsManagement information systemsReporting requirementsState-administered programsFood relief programsNutritionPublic officials