Appendix C - FNS email to State SNAP agency

OMB Control No: 0584-XXXX

Expiration Date: XX/XX/20XX

Appendix C: FNS email to State SNAP agency

Dear <SNAP DIRECTOR NAME>,

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), in conjunction with Westat, plans to conduct a National-level and State-level survey of SNAP participation and work. The survey results will provide States with valuable information about the employment patterns and characteristics of nondisabled adult SNAP participants--information not currently available from other surveys. The survey will also identify health, social, and personal factors that promote or inhibit employment among SNAP participants. The survey will provide State-level estimates that are not available elsewhere. These data will be available to you via an interactive website. Please see the attached Survey of SNAP and Work fact sheet for more information about the survey. 

We cannot provide reliable statistics without your participation. We request, and strongly encourage, your State to provide administrative data on SNAP participants to our contractor so the study team can build a file to draw the survey sample. On behalf of FNS, Westat will work with your State to request the data needed for a particular month in the future. However, it is important to prepare in advance for the request to identify and resolve all issues prior to the needed delivery of the data. Soon Westat will send you an email to schedule a time for a telephone call to discuss this data request. The call will include a discussion of the benefits to your State for participating, procedures to protect the privacy of the data, the needed data elements, the process for data delivery, and a data sharing agreement.

Section 17 [7 U.S.C. 2026] (a)(1) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended by the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, provides general legislative authority for the planned data collection.  It authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into contracts with private institutions to undertake research that will help improve the administration and effectiveness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in delivering nutrition-related benefits.

We look forward to your partnership in this very important study.

If you have any questions about the study, please contact the FNS Project Officer, Michael Burke at [email protected] or Frank Bennici, the Westat Project Director at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Kathryn Law

Director, SNAP Research and Analysis Division

Office of Policy Support

USDA, Food and Nutrition Service

703-305-2138

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