The nature of welfare reform programs currently in place, whether developed under waivers or under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, vary substantially by State. This variation across States and across time provides a "natural experiment" for studying changes in the characteristics of the FSP caseload. Results will provide policymakers with important information on how much and in what ways the FSP caseload is changing, and on how well the FSP is continuing its role as a safety net for low-income households. The work is using administrative data from the Integrated Quality Control System database for fiscal years 1992 through 1998. A cooperative assistance agreement with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., was awarded in fiscal 1998 at a cost of $127,383. The interim report summarizing the descriptive and econometric analyses is expected in December, 2000.