| Project: The Costs of Delivering Benefits Through the Food Stamp Program as Compared With Other Major Benefit Programs |
| Award Year: 2006 |
| Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $40,000.00 |
| Institution: Brookings Institution |
| Principal Investigator: Julia Isaacs |
| Status: Completed |
| Detailed Objective: This project will compare the costs of delivering benefits to families through the Food Stamp Program with costs in other major benefits programs, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. The project will develop a conceptual framework for considering the various costs of benefit delivery, including a consideration of how these are affected by program complexity. In addition, the project will examine various reforms to the Food Stamp Program (e.g., changes under the 2002 Farm Bill and proposals for further reform) in terms of their expected impacts on costs and efficiency of benefit delivery. The costs of benefit delivery will be defined to include not only administrative costs but also error rates, recipient burden, and nonparticipation by eligible families. |
| Topic: Program Operations, SNAP/Food Stamp Program |
Output:
Isaacs, J. The Costs of Benefit Delivery in the Food Stamp Program: Lessons From a Cross-Program Analysis, Contractor and Cooperator Report No. 39, USDA, ERS, March 2008. |