The recent decline in Food Stamp Program caseloads raises the question of the extent to which the households involved have shifted from use of public to private food assistance. This study examines trends over time in food assistance receipt, both public and private, the interaction between the receipt of private and public assistance, and the characteristics associated with various patterns of use. The project uses data from a unique database made up of information from emergency assistance providers in the Kansas City, MO metropolitan area and administrative records from the Missouri Department of Social Services on Food Stamp Program recipients. Trends over time will be evaluated and detailed characteristics will be compared for March 1997 and March 2001. Variables to be included in the detailed profiles include: Value of food assistance (both public and private) received in prior year; number of months received; age of head of household; race/ethnicity; employment status; receipt of earnings in household; household income; and reported household expenses. In addition, bivariate and multivariate models will be used to further characterize low, medium, and high users of food assistance from public and private sources. Event-history analysis will be employed to determine which factors are associated with receipt of each type of service in any given month over the 5-year time span.