Food Stamp Program:
Administrative Hindrances to Participation
RCED-89-4: Published: Oct 21, 1988. Publicly Released: Oct 28, 1988.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
(202) 512-5138
contact@gao.gov
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
youngc1@gao.gov
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed whether federal regulations and certain state and local practices and procedures discourage or prevent eligible persons from participating in the Food and Nutrition Service's (FNS) Food Stamp Program.
GAO found that some local offices: (1) had limited office hours and restrictive interviewing schedules; (2) required households to complete screening forms before providing them food stamp applications and interviews; (3) did not encourage applicants to file partial applications to establish filing dates; (4) did not consider applicants for expedited benefits or did not provide expedited benefits on time; (5) denied applications prematurely; and (6) did not help applicants obtain the documents they needed to complete their applications. GAO also found that some states: (1) inappropriately terminated households' food stamp benefits when they terminated their public assistance benefits; (2) transferred clients from one project area to another, causing benefit interruptions; and (3) terminated food stamp benefits on the basis of unverified allegations of changes in household circumstances. In addition, GAO found that households with the same income could receive more food stamps in some states than others because FNS regulations permit two methods for states to calculate a household's monthly income.
Recommendations for Executive Action
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: On June 6, 1991, FNS issued an information package entitled "Examples of Successful Actions Taken by State Agencies To Address Barriers to Food Stamp Participation" to its regional offices for dissemination to state agencies. The materials will assist states in identifying and overcoming participation obstacles.
Recommendation: The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FNS, to identify administrative hindrances to food stamp participation in its annual operations reviews of each state, focusing on hindrances identified in this report, and assist states in overcoming these hindrances by sharing this information with all states.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: Closed - Not Implemented
Comments: Although FNS agrees using different methods causes some inequities, it stated that changing the current policy could result in administrative burdens and unclear impact. As a result, FNS has decided not to adopt a uniform policy.
Recommendation: The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FNS, to determine the extent to which some households are treated inequitably by the different methods used to calculate monthly income, and determine whether it would be beneficial to adopt a uniform policy for calculating monthly income.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Explore the full database of GAO's Open Recommendations
»
Jan 15, 2021
-
Farmworkers:
Additional Information Needed to Better Protect Workers from Pesticide ExposureGAO-21-63: Published: Jan 15, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 15, 2021.
Nov 20, 2020
-
Food Safety:
CDC Could Further Strengthen Its Efforts to Identify and Respond to Foodborne IllnessesGAO-21-23: Published: Oct 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 20, 2020.
Nov 16, 2020
-
Farm Programs:
USDA Has Improved Its Completion of Eligibility Compliance Reviews, but Additional Oversight Is NeededGAO-21-95: Published: Oct 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2020.
Sep 16, 2020
-
Agriculture Spending:
Opportunities Exist for USDA to Identify Successes and Challenges of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program to Inform Future EffortsGAO-20-711R: Published: Sep 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 16, 2020.
Sep 14, 2020
-
USDA Market Facilitation Program:
Information on Payments for 2019GAO-20-700R: Published: Aug 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 2020.
Aug 10, 2020
-
National Bio and Agro-defense Facility:
DHS and USDA Are Working to Transfer Ownership and Prepare for Operations, but Critical Steps RemainGAO-20-331: Published: Jul 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 10, 2020.
May 7, 2020
-
Food Safety:
FDA and USDA Could Strengthen Existing Efforts to Prepare for Oversight of Cell-Cultured MeatGAO-20-325: Published: Apr 7, 2020. Publicly Released: May 7, 2020.
Apr 13, 2020
-
Priority Open Recommendations:
U.S. Department of AgricultureGAO-20-288PR: Published: Apr 6, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 13, 2020.
Dec 23, 2019
-
Nutrition Assistance Programs:
Agencies Could Do More to Help Address the Nutritional Needs of Older AdultsGAO-20-18: Published: Nov 21, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 23, 2019.
Dec 6, 2019
-
Imported Seafood Safety:
Actions Needed to Improve FDA Oversight of Import Alert Removal DecisionsGAO-20-62: Published: Nov 6, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 6, 2019.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here