The Simplified Food Stamp Program

The Simplified Food Stamp Program allows the states to determine eligibility and benefits under one set of program criteria for families receiving assistance from both the Food Stamp Program and TANF. Six states—Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Maine, North Carolina, and South Carolina—indicated that they were planning to implement the simplified program. As figure 2 shows, the states that have not implemented a simplified program cited a number of concerns that have discouraged its adoption. The most frequently cited concern for 34 of the states that had not implemented a simplified program was increasing caseworker burden because of an additional set of program criteria. Finally, the third most frequently cited factor discouraging program implementation for 24 of the states was that other Welfare Reform Act requirements had a higher priority. As figure 3 shows, according to 6 of the 7 states that had implemented a mini simplified program and 32 of the states that had not implemented a simplified program, the program would have little or no impact on the number of households receiving food stamps. Food stamp officials in Idaho told us that the minimal impact on food stamp participation and benefit levels in their state is due to the relatively small number of households that participate in the simplified program compared with the state’s total food stamp population. 5.) Specifically, we (1) identify the number of states that have adopted or are planning to adopt the Simplified Food Stamp Program, (2) describe the concerns that may be preventing other states from adopting the simplified program, and (3) examine the impacts that the adoption of the simplified program may have on households’ eligibility and benefits. Status of States’ Implementation of the Simplified Food Stamp Program as of July 1998

Arkansas Implements the Simplified Food Stamp Program

Arkansas was the first state to obtain FNS’ approval to implement a simplified program that merges several Food Stamp Program and TANF requirements. FNS officials did not approve this program change because, under the Welfare Reform Act, the recipient has to be eligible for TANF assistance before being eligible for benefits under the simplified program.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the impact of welfare reform on the Food Stamp Program, focusing on: (1) the number of states that have adopted or are planning to adopt the Simplified Food Stamp Program; (2) the concerns that may be preventing other states from adopting the simplified program; and (3) the impacts that the adoption of the simplified programs may have on households' eligibility and benefits.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) GAO's July 1998 survey indicated that seven states had implemented a limited, or mini, Simplified Food Stamp Program; (2) of the 45 states that had not implemented the simplified program, 6 were planning to do so; 30 indicated that they did not plan to do so; and the 9 remaining states were uncertain about their plans; (3) one of the six states--Arkansas--was planning to adopt the simplified program, but subsequently implemented a full, or more comprehensive, program that establishes a uniform set of eligibility requirements for both food stamp and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance; (4) the states that had not implemented the simplified program cited several concerns that discouraged them: (a) increasing caseworkers' burden by creating a third set of eligibility criteria for a simplified program that are different from those associated with the separately administered TANF and the Food Stamp Program; (b) restricting the options for designing a simplified program by requiring it to be cost neutral; and (c) other Welfare Reform Act requirements that had a higher priority; (5) the simplified program would have little or no impact on either the number of households participating in the Food Stamp Program or on the amount of their benefits, according to the majority of states that have and have not implemented a simplified program; (6) the simplified program has limited impact, according to one state, primarily because a relatively small number of households participate in it compared with the state's total food stamp population; and (7) according to another state, since most TANF households also receive assistance under the regular Food Stamp Program, there is little change in total benefit costs as a result of the state's adoption of the simplified program.