USDA Summer Meals Program: Lack of Program Awareness Contributes to Unmet Need Among Nonparticipants.

BACKGROUND: Participation in the US Department of Agriculture's summer meals program is consistently lower compared to National School Lunch Program (NSLP) participation, even though the programs target the same population of children. The purpose of this study was to elucidate reasons for participation and nonparticipation in the summer meals program. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of 4688 households with children ages 5 through 18 years living near a summer meals site in 2018 completed a survey about their reasons for participation or nonparticipation in the summer meals program, features that would help nonparticipants to attend, and household food security status. RESULTS: Almost half of all households living near a summer meal site were food insecure (45%) and most (77%) had incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty level. Most participant caregivers (74%) sent their children to summer meal sites for the free meals, while 46% of nonparticipant caregivers said they did not attend because they were unaware of the program. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a high level of food insecurity among all households, the most reported reason for not attending the summer meals program was unawareness of the program. These findings highlight a need for better program visibility and outreach.

The Impact of ABAWD Time Limit Reinstatement on SNAP Participation and Employment.

OBJECTIVE: Estimate the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) on SNAP participation, employment, and earnings. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study using state administrative SNAP and earnings data to compare outcomes for SNAP participants before and after the time limit went into effect. PARTICIPANTS: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants in the study cohorts in Colorado, Missouri, and Pennsylvania (N = 153,599). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Monthly SNAP participation, quarterly employment, annual earnings. ANALYSIS: Logistic and ordinary least squares multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Time limit reinstatement reduced SNAP participation by 7 to 32 percentage points in the 12th month of time limit reinstatement but did not generate evidence of improved employment or annual earnings (1 year after time limit reinstatement, employment decreased by 2 to 7 percentage points and annual earnings decreased by $247 to $1,230). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The ABAWD time limit reduced SNAP participation but did not improve employment and earnings. SNAP may provide helpful support to participants as they seek to enter or re-enter employment, and removing this support may be detrimental to their employment prospects. These findings can inform decisions about requesting waivers or pursuing changes to ABAWD legislation or regulations.

Impact of Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives on Household Fruit and Vegetable Expenditures.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the impact of the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) grant program on self-reported fruit and vegetable (FV) expenditures. DESIGN: Pre-post quasi-experimental study design. SETTING: Farmers markets and grocery stores in states with FINI projects. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2,471 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households in 4 intervention groups who lived near a FINI retailer (farmers market or grocery store) and 4 matched comparison groups who did not live near a FINI retailer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Awareness and use of point-of-sale incentives and changes in self-reported monthly household FV expenditures. ANALYSIS: Ordinary least squares intent-to-treat regression model using lagged dependent variable model framework. RESULTS: Awareness of FINI was higher among households who were near a FINI retailer and had shopped there before FINI than those who lived near a FINI retailer but had not shopped there before FINI; the number of information sources from which SNAP participants heard about FINI was positively associated with incentive receipt (P < 0.05). Among those who received incentives, the average amount of incentives received at the last shopping trip ranged from $15 to $23. The FINI program had a positive impact on the average monthly FV expenditures for those in the farmers market shopper, grocery store shopper, and grocery store general intervention groups-increases ranged from $9 to $15 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Point-of-sale incentives were associated with an increase in FV expenditures among SNAP households. Further research is needed to examine (1) effective messaging strategies to increase incentive awareness and (2) the long-term impact of incentives on FV expenditures.