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FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE

RESEARCH & EVALUATION PLAN – FISCAL YEAR 2008 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 

Food Stamp Program 

Food Stamp Modernization and Innovation Projects

The fiscal year 2008 budget requests funding to study the impact of new Food Stamp Program 

service delivery models on erroneous payments, administrative costs, and program access. Many 

States are re-examining their approach to operating the Food Stamp Program and other 

assistance programs. The goals of these re-engineering efforts are to improve access to program 

benefits, reduce administrative costs, and maintain or improve the current high level of payment 

accuracy. In general, modernization efforts focus on streamlining food stamp certification by 

making greater use of on-line applications and automated data matching, simplifying interview 

and reporting procedures, and engaging the private sector, community and faith-based service 

organizations to assist with client applications. 

Measuring Program Access, Trends and Impacts 

This ongoing project supports several key analytic tools (including microsimulation models) to 

address program participation trends and impacts. It provides annual estimates of the percentage 

of eligible individuals who receive food stamps providing a key measure of the program’s 

effectiveness in reaching its target population. The project also generates annual reports on the 

characteristics of food stamp participants. In addition, the project provides the primary 

mechanism through which FNS estimates the caseload and budgetary impact of actual and 

proposed policy changes. A new contract is needed in 2008 to continue these services. 

Model for Food Stamp Nutrition Education and Evaluation

Documenting the results of nutrition education in terms of concrete changes to dietary behaviors 

remains a challenge for both FNS and its State and local partners. This project would address 

that challenge by competitively selecting a set of 4 to 6 demonstration projects based on their 

potential to incorporate key features of the Guiding Principles for Food Stamp Nutrition 

Education – e.g., targeting women and children in food stamp eligible households, using 

behaviorally-focused messages, concentrating on a small number of outcomes – and their 

capacity to incorporate a strong impact assessment. Demonstration projects would be evaluated 

with respect to their success in implementing the Guiding Principles, impacts on nutritionrelated behaviors, and cost-effectiveness. Results would provide a set of best practices and 

models for both nutrition education and evaluation. The funds requested would support the costs 

of the evaluation. 
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Enhancing the Violation-Prone Profile to Manage Retailers

For some time, FNS has performed various analyses to identify the subset of retailers 

participating in the Food Stamp Program who are more likely to violate program rules so that we 

may target monitoring and investigation resources. In general, the value of most identification 

strategies declines as retailers figure out at least some of the screening variables. Fortunately, 

access to retailer data has also increased over time. The results of preliminary work indicate the 

potential value of using information now in the Store Tracking and Redemption System 

(STARS) database to update the current profile of violators. The proposed research will assess 

any difference in the capacity of current and updated models to identify potential violators. 

Child Nutrition Programs 

School Food Purchase Study

This study will utilize a methodology similar to previous food purchase studies to provide 

updated national estimates of food acquisitions made by public school districts participating in 

the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). It will 

examine the type and volume of foods purchased directly by public school districts and the 

relative importance of foods donated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The study 

will also examine procurement practices and operating characteristics of these school districts 

and their relationship to food costs. Of particular interest is the use and perceived value of CN 

labeled products to school districts and what product information is obtained by districts from 

manufacturers for non-CN labeled products. 

School Nutrition Dietary Assessment (SNDA) IV

PART commits FNS to conduct a SNDA study every 5 years to measure the progress schools are 

making toward meeting school meal nutrient standards. SNDA-III collected data in School Year 

2004-05. SNDA-IV would allow FNS to monitor school meals as offered to students and as 

served (selected) by students. Unlike SNDA-III, this study would not include the collection of 

student dietary intake data. The plan is to award the base contract in fiscal year 2008 to cover 

research design, instrumentation development and the OMB package. A line item has been 

included in the fiscal year 2009 budget request to fund data collection, analyses and report 

preparation. 

Assessment of CACFP Sponsor Tiering Determinations 

To address OMB’s requirements for annual data relative to the Improper Payments Information 

Act of 2002, FNS assesses the accuracy of tiering classifications by sponsors of family day care 

homes for Tier I or Tier II levels of reimbursement. The assessment is conducted annually with 

a nationally representative sample of CACFP sponsors and produces annual estimates of the 

rates and erroneous payment dollars associated with improper sponsor tiering decisions. The 

program assessment has been funded from the Child Nutrition Program. This contract will 
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employ the same methodology as used in the 2006 through 2008 assessments. It will fund a base 

contract for 2009 with options to repeat an assessment in 2010 and 2011. 

WIC Program 

Evaluation of Birth Month Breastfeeding Changes in WIC Food Packages 

When recommending new WIC food packages, the Institute of Medicine strongly urged FNS to 

conduct research assessing the effect of birth month changes in provision of infant formula. 

Initial work on this project began in fiscal year 2007 and involves collection of data at the local 

WIC agency level; this will provide the funding needed to implement recipient-level data 

collection for the project. The findings from this study will influence the decisions on 

supplemental food packages in the critical first months following birth when FNS moves from 

interim to final rules. 

WIC Participant Characteristics 2008

The biannual WIC participant characteristics compilations are a primary means by which FNS 

measures the characteristics of program recipients. This reserves money to fund the options 

necessary to complete data collection and analysis for 2008 data. 

WIC Special Project Grants 2008

Competitive grants to States on topics of interest to the WIC program. 

Other 

Food and Nutrition Information Center

Funds will support the Food and Nutrition Information Center within the National Agricultural 

Library to systematically store and disseminate information on USDA’s food assistance 

programs, nutrition education, and related nutrition topics.