The federal Food Stamp Program is intended to help low-income individuals and families obtain a more nutritious diet by supplementing their income with benefits to purchase eligible foods at authorized food retailers, such as meat, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables, but not items such as soap, tobacco, or alcohol. FNS pays the full cost of food stamp benefits and shares the states’ administrative costs—with FNS usually paying slightly less than 50 percent—and is responsible for promulgating program regulations and ensuring that state officials administer the program in compliance with program rules. The states administer the program by determining whether households meet the program’s eligibility requirements, calculating monthly benefits for qualified households, and issuing benefits to participants through an electronic benefits transfer system. In fiscal year 2005, the Food Stamp Program issued almost $28.6 billion in benefits to about 25.7 million individuals per month, and the maximum monthly food stamp benefit for a household of four living in the continental United States in fiscal year 2007 was $518. As shown in figure 1, program participation decreased during the late 1990s, partly due to an improved economy, but rose again from 2000 to 2005. The number of food stamp recipients follows the trend in the number of people living at or below the federal poverty level. In addition to the economic growth in the late 1990s, another factor contributing to the decrease in number of participants from 1996 to 2001 was the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which added work requirements and time limits to cash assistance and made certain groups ineligible to receive food stamp benefits. In some cases, this caused participants to believe they were no longer eligible for food stamps when TANF benefits were ended. Since 2000, that downward trend has reversed, and experts believe that the downturn in the U.S. economy, coupled with changes in the Food Stamp Program’s rules and administration, has led to an increase in the number of food stamp participants. Eligibility for participation in the Food Stamp Program is based primarily on a household’s income and assets. To determine a household’s eligibility, a caseworker must first determine the household’s gross income, which cannot exceed 130 percent of the poverty level for that year as determined by the Department of Health and Human Services, and net income, which cannot exceed 100 percent of the poverty level (or about $1,799 per month for a family of three living in the continental United States in fiscal year 2007). Net income is determined by deducting from gross income a portion of expenses such as dependent care costs, medical expenses for elderly individuals, utilities costs, and housing expenses. The application process for the Food Stamp Program requires households to complete and submit an application to a local assistance office, participate in an interview, and submit documentation to verify household circumstances (see table 1). Applicants may need to make more than one visit to the assistance office to complete the application process. After eligibility is established, households are certified eligible for food stamps for periods ranging from 1 to 24 months, depending on household circumstances and state policy. While households are receiving benefits, they must report changes in household circumstances that may affect eligibility or benefit amounts. States may choose to require households to report changes within 10 days of occurrence (incident reporting) or at specified intervals (periodic reporting). States also have the option to adopt a simplified system, which further reduces the burden of periodic reporting by requiring households to report changes that happen during a certification period only when their income rises above 130 percent of the federal poverty level. Once the certification period ends, households must reapply for benefits, at which time eligibility and benefit levels are redetermined. The recertification process is similar to the application process. Households can be denied benefits or have their benefits end at any point during the process if they are determined ineligible under program rules or for procedural reasons, such as missing a scheduled interview or failing to provide the required documentation. While applying for and maintaining food stamp benefits has traditionally involved visiting a local assistance office, states have the flexibility to give households alternatives to visiting the office, such as using the mail, the telephone, and on-line services to complete the certification and recertification process. Alternative methods may be used to support other programs, such as Medicaid or TANF, since some food stamp participants receive benefits from multiple programs. Figure 2 illustrates a traditional office-based system and how states can use a number of alternative methods to determine applicants’ eligibility without requiring them to visit an assistance office. FNS and the states share responsibility for implementing a quality control system used to measure the accuracy of caseworker decisions concerning the amount of food stamp benefits households are eligible to receive and decisions to deny or end benefits. The food stamp payment error rate is calculated by FNS for the entire program, as well as every state, by adding overpayments (including payments higher than the amounts households are eligible for or payments to those who are not eligible for any benefit), and underpayments (payments lower than the amounts households are eligible for). The national payment error rate has declined by about 40 percent between 1999 and 2005, from 9.86 percent to a record low of 5.84 percent. FSP payment errors are caused primarily by caseworkers, usually when they fail to keep up with new information, and by participants when they fail to report needed information. Another type of error measured by FNS is the negative error rate, defined as the rate of cases denied, suspended, or terminated incorrectly. An example of incorrectly denying a case would be if a caseworker denied a household participation in the program because of excess income, but there was a calculation error and the household was actually eligible for benefits. FNS also monitors individual fraud and retailer trafficking of food stamp benefits. According to our survey, almost all states allow households to submit applications, report changes, and submit recertifications through the mail, and 26 states have implemented or are developing systems to allow households to perform these tasks on-line. Almost half of the states are using or developing call centers and states are also using flexibility authorized by FNS to increase use of the telephone as an alternative to visiting the local assistance office. States have taken a variety of actions to help households use on-line services and call centers, such as sending informational mailings, holding community meetings, and using community partners to assist households. Many states are allowing households to apply for food stamp benefits, report changes in household circumstances, and complete recertification through the mail and on-line. Mail-In Procedures. Results of our survey show that households can submit applications through the mail in all states, report changes through the mail in all but 1 state, and submit recertifications through the mail in 46 states. For example, Washington state officials told us that the recertification process involves mailing a recertification application package to households that they can mail back without visiting a local assistance office. On-line Services. All states we surveyed reported having a food stamp application available for households to download from a state website, as required by federal law, and 26 states (51 percent) have implemented or are developing Web-based systems in which households can submit initial applications, report changes, or submit recertifications on line (see fig. 3). Most on-line applications were made available statewide and implemented within the last 3 years and states developing on-line services plan to implement these services within the next 2 years. All of the 14 states that reported currently providing on- line services allow households to submit initial food stamp applications on-line, but only 6 states allow households to report changes and 5 states allow households to complete recertification on- line. Of the 14 states that reported using on-line applications, 2 reported they were only available in certain areas of the state. Only two states (Florida and Kansas) reported in our survey that the state closed program offices or reduced staff as a result of implementing on-line services. On-line services available (14) Not using on-line services (25) Many states are using call centers, telephone interviews, or other technologies to help households access food stamp benefits or information without visiting a local assistance office. Call Centers. Nineteen states (37 percent) have made call centers available to households and an additional 4 states (8 percent) have begun development of call centers that will be available to households in 2007 (see fig. 4). Households have been able to use call centers in seven states for more than 3 years. Of the 19 states using call centers, 10 reported that call centers were only available in certain areas of the state. Only two states (Texas and Idaho) reported using private contractors to operate the call centers, but Texas announced in March 2007 that it was terminating its agreement with the private contractor (see fig. 10 for more details). FNS officials told us that the Idaho private call center provides general food stamp program information to callers, while inquiries about specific cases are transferred to state caseworkers. Indiana reported in our survey that the state plans to pilot call centers in certain areas of the state in August 2007 using a private contractor and complete a statewide transition in March 2008. Only two states (Florida and Arizona) reported in our survey that the state closed offices or reduced staff as a result of implementing call centers. Most states with call centers reported that households can use them to report changes in household circumstances, request a food stamp application and receive assistance filling it out, receive information about their case, or receive referrals to other programs. Only four states reported using their call centers to conduct telephone interviews. For example, local officials in Washington told us that households use their call center primarily to request information, report changes in household circumstances, and request an interview. Telephone interviews are conducted by caseworkers in the local assistance office. Telephone Interviews. Many states are using the flexibility provided by FNS to increase the use of the telephone as an alternative to households visiting the local assistance office.