Appendix K.1 Template for email from FNS to State SNAP agency about the case studies

K.1 Template for email from FNS to State SNAP agency about the case studies

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OMB Control No: 0584-XXXX

Expiration date: XX/XX/20XX

To: SNAP State administrator

Subject: Seeking [State/Territory name]’s Participation in a SNAP COVID study

Dear [SNAP State administrator FN LN],

The United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is sponsoring the How Have SNAP State Agencies Shifted Operations in the Aftermath of COVID-19? (SNAP COVID) study to better understand how SNAP agencies have adapted their operations and norms during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased their preparedness for another major disruption. To meet the goals of this study, FNS has contracted with Mathematica to survey all 53 State SNAP agencies and conduct case studies in 5 States. Please see the attached study overview for more details.

FNS strongly encourages all SNAP agencies to participate in this important study. For your agency, this involves completing a 45-minute online survey and participating in the case study activities. The survey asks about your [State’s/Territory’s] SNAP policy changes related to COVID-19; operational changes to application processing, certification, and verification; and changes to benefit issuance, client case management, and technology and data systems. The survey will also ask about the lessons you learned that will inform SNAP operations going forward. The survey will include a request for policy documents; it should take you an additional 30 minutes to gather those documents. Within three business days, you will receive an email from Mathematica with a link to the survey and instructions for completing it.

The case study will involve a virtual site visit and some administrative data collection. These case studies will help us develop an in-depth understanding of—and capture staff perceptions of—changes in program operations, challenges associated with the changes, and the rationale behind decisions to continue or discontinue changes implemented during the pandemic. [State name] has been selected as case study State because [rationale for selection]. A member of the study team will reach out to you in the next week to discuss your State’s participation in this research. The email will come from Elizabeth Brown and have the subject line Case Study for the SNAP COVID Study.

Thank you in advance for participating in this study. The study findings will be published in a final report that will summarize the adaptations made across all 53 State SNAP agencies as well as two issue briefs. The report and briefs will highlight the key findings, including policy adaptations and lessons learned that can be used to learn how States have increased their preparedness for another major disruption. The findings of this study will provide States with valuable information on what other States changed during the pandemic and will help FNS create policies that are responsive to States’ experiences.

If you have any questions, please contact the FNS project officer, Amanda Wyant, at amanda.wyant @usda.gov or Elizabeth Brown, the Mathematica project director, at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Amanda Wyant, PhD

Social Science Research Analyst

Food and Nutrition Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Public Burden Statement

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service in examining how State SNAP agencies shifted operations since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a voluntary data collection and FNS will use the information to describe how State agencies shifted operations during and after the public health emergency and identify best practices and lessons learned. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 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-XXXX and Expiration Date XX-XX-20XX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to take 0.0333 hours per response. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22306 ATTN: PRA (0584-XXXX).