https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Administration


Franki Chamaki on Unsplash

Article

SNAP benefit amounts are increasing. How can state agencies keep up?

SNAP benefit amounts are increasing. How can state agencies keep up?

  • Written by Juan Cole
  • 11th January 2022

Amid a time marked by elevated need and ongoing food insecurity across the nation, the 42 million Americans that receive food stamps have begun to see a permanent boost to their benefits. Starting October 2021, families and individuals enrolled in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) began receiving increased benefits under the revised Thrifty Food Plan announced by the USDA over the summer.

On average, food stamp recipients began receiving a 27 percent boost to their regular SNAP benefits, an increase of about $36 per month for individuals and a maximum of $835 per month for families of four, compared to a $680 maximum before. This is the largest increase in the history of SNAP. Even as pandemic-related increases have ended, SNAP participants will still notice an average boost of $12 to $16 per person per month, according to the USDA. Given the substantial increase, it is critical for state benefits agencies to ensure their eligibility verification processes are tight to help protect program integrity and facilitate proper benefit distribution to recipients in need. As SNAP benefit amounts increase, here’s how agencies can keep up.

Leverage access to reliable data
To be eligible for SNAP benefits, applicants must be able to meet certain requirements, including income limits. While the SNAP benefits application process includes income information requests of applicants, state benefits agencies still must check applicant-provided information to verify eligibility.

Most benefits administrators have access to public sector income data sources, such as the National Directory of New Hires, State Wage Data and IRS Data. However, data from each of these sources can be outdated. In fact, data from these sources can be three to six months old (and in some cases, possibly 15 months old) since State Wage Data, for example, is gathered monthly then released the following quarter. In other instances, benefits administrators may rely on applicant-provided paystubs to verify income, which leads to manual processes that leave room for delays. In addition, paystubs can be easily falsified, whether an individual purchases a fake paystub online or creates one at home.

Frequent job turnover or 1099/gig income sources also make it risky to rely on paystubs or outdated data to verify income, because that may lead to potentially incorrect eligibility decisions. This causes increased workload for agencies and sometimes even delayed payments for applicants. With the increase in benefit amounts, state agencies need current, actionable data to deliver SNAP benefits with greater confidence. Commercial verification sources, such as The Work Number database, can deliver near real-time verifications of income that are updated with every payroll cycle.

Maintain program integrity
By leveraging third-party data sources, state agencies not only ensure they are using the most current income data to verify eligibility at initial application for SNAP benefits, but also help maintain program integrity and realize efficiencies throughout the entire benefits lifecycle.

Benefits agencies are typically required to do yearly recertifications, including income verifications, to confirm that eligible individuals are getting the benefit they need. Rather than tracking down income information from applicants, then manually verifying that information through multiple data sources at each point of recertification, benefits agencies can speed up processes and realize efficiencies by using up-to-date, automated data sources. For example, in 2020, more than 3,000 state and local social service agencies used automated data from The Work Number to verify income, which helped improve their ability to quickly provide aid to qualifying individuals, while protecting program integrity.

By leveraging automated, real-time data sources, SNAP agencies can help speed up the verifications process at application and recertification, while also checking that applicant eligibility information is up to date.

  

Juan Cole is vice president, strategy and solutions consulting for Equifax Government Services. In this role, he works closely with government and industry partners to deploy data-driven solutions and trended data analysis that address the ever-changing challenges faced by government clients. He leads a service architect team that supports clients in CMS SSA, and state health care government agencies to implement solutions that help mitigate risk, prevent improper payments, facilitate verifications and improve program integrity.

 

Tags: homepage-featured-3 homepage-featured-4 Administration Economy Administration Economy Economy & Finance Article

Most Recent


  • Partnership launches no-cost wastewater monitoring service for local governments
    Of all the important lessons cities and counties have learned since the pandemic began, high up on the list is the value of working together. No one community can solve cross-jurisdictional challenges alone—that’s a concept that’s at the heart of a new initiative launched by the National League of Cities (NLC) and WastewaterSCAN that brings […]
  • With passage of PACT Act, veterans service officers are preparing for an influx in applicants
    With the recent passage of legislation that expands medical access for veterans exposed to airborne toxins during their time in military service, county veterans service officers are preparing for an influx in applicants who were previously rejected. The Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, having passed the Senate after being struck down last […]
  • community
    Proposed update to Community Reinvestment Act could support neighborhood recovery
    The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a U.S. federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to help meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Congress passed the Act in 1977 to reduce discriminatory credit practices against low-income neighborhoods, a practice known as redlining. […]
  • Louisiana city-parish's communication department recognized for its efforts by Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative
    Translating ideas and 10-year plans created by administrators in a town office into concepts that are readily digestible by the general public isn’t always easy; Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge’s Department of Information Services is doing it right. The City-Parish’s Department of Information Services has operated for years as a more traditional IT department […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • 2013 Keating Report on government budgets and spending

White papers


Modern American Perspectives on Law Enforcement

14th July 2022

Reimagine the Employee Experience

12th July 2022

How to Assemble a Rockstar Website Redesign Steering Committee

7th June 2022
view all

Events


PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

In Nevada county, data underpins efforts to address climate change dlvr.it/SWTGHy

11th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

$52B semiconductor investment intended to rejuvenate American manufacturing dlvr.it/SWPqHQ

10th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

How capital improvement project prioritization helps secure infrastructure funding dlvr.it/SWLQB7

9th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

Climate bill lauded; predicted to reduce nation’s carbon foot print by 40% within decade dlvr.it/SWHGQL

8th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

Partnership launches no-cost wastewater monitoring service for local governments dlvr.it/SW7N74

5th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

Investing in America’s onsite wastewater treatment systems for equity and sustainability dlvr.it/SW4Mb9

4th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

With passage of PACT Act, veterans service officers are preparing for an influx in applicants dlvr.it/SW4KTg

4th August 2022
AmerCityCounty

The 5 Procurement Superpowers Shaping the Future of Public Procurement dlvr.it/SW4DqT

4th August 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X