Attachment E. Introduction letter to regional directors of upcoming study

Attachment E

Introduction Letter to Regional Directors of Upcoming Study

OMB CONTROL NO.: 0584-NEW

EXPIRATION DATE: 00/00/20XX

Dear Regional Director:

Under The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA), the Office of Policy Support is conducting a study to describe how States use computer matching strategies to reduce recipient fraud, payment errors, and administrative burden.  The study will include a survey administered to all 53 State SNAP agencies. Please see the attached study description for more detail.

FNS has contracted with Avar and Mathematica Policy Research (referred to as “the Avar team”) to conduct this study. Working with the Avar team, FNS will be approaching State SNAP administrators in your region to solicit their participation in the survey. Each State will be asked to take a web survey that takes approximately 15 to 70 minutes to complete depending on the number of data sources and matching systems that the State uses. The survey covers topics such as States’ reasons for performing data-matching, the particular data sources each State uses, and the process States use to verify matches. This information will help FNS update the nationwide inventory of State SNAP data-matching and improve SNAP computer-matching efforts across the nation to maximize efficiencies and minimize fraud and waste. Participation is voluntary and there are no penalties if you decide not to respond.

Next week, FNS will email each State SNAP Director in your region to let them know that the Avar team will be in touch to invite them to participate in the survey. If you have any concerns, please let me know. If you have any questions about the study, please contact the FNS Project Officer, Danielle Deemer, at (703) 305-2952 or [email protected].

Thank you,

Kathryn Law

Director, SNAP Research and Analysis Division

Office of Policy Support

USDA Food and Nutrition Service

(703) 305-2138

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-NEW. The time required to read this letter is estimated to average .0167 hours. Send comments regarding this burden estimate to the Office of Policy Support, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302.

FNS SNAP Supporting Statement, Attachment E 2