USDA sends letters to Oklahoma, 46 others over poor SNAP benefit efficiency
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says a majority of states are not meeting performance goals when issuing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to their citizens.
Earlier this month, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack issued letters to Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and governors from 43 other states, two territories and the District of Columbia, calling for immediate action to improve efficiency when issuing SNAP benefits.
In Oklahoma, food benefits are issued to more than 600,000 adults and children each month.
According to the letter, Oklahoma had an Application Processing Timeliness rate of 95.74 percent (acceptable performance is above 95 percent), an overpayment error rate of 7.67 percent and an underpayment rate of 1.22 percent (acceptable performance is below 6 percent when the two are added together), and a Case And Procedural Error Rate (CAPER) of 26.28 percent (national average is 44.12 percent) in Fiscal Year 2022.
Officials say Oklahoma's CAPER percentage is worse than years prior.
Timely and accurate SNAP processing is critical to meeting the nutrition needs of low-income families and protecting the integrity of SNAP. Americans in need should have access to essential benefits without unnecessary delays. People should not lose access to food because States are unable to review their applications in a timely fashion. States must deliver benefits in the right amounts, to the right individuals, and in the required periods of time. Both timeliness and program integrity are critical to maintain public confidence in States’ management of SNAP and to maximize the impact of Federal investment in addressing food insecurity. USDA takes its oversight and monitoring role of State performance seriously and has been proactively engaging with States on these issues.
USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack in letter to OK Gov. Kevin Stitt
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service says it will work with struggling states to improve outcomes by:
- Engaging directly with states through onsite visits, virtual trainings, and office hours;
- Providing updated guidance and tools on effective practices and innovative strategies;
- Requiring states that fall short of certain benchmarks to implement corrective action plans;
- Awarding $5 million in grants per year to select state agencies to develop and implement projects that use technology to improve the quality and efficiency of SNAP application and eligibility determination systems; and
- Contracting with national payroll data providers to help states improve income verification for SNAP applicants and recipients, which is expected to reduce payment errors and improve the timely processing of applications and re-certifications.
SNAP rules were modified during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency to increase coverage, but those modifications ended in 2023.
KFOR has reached out to the governor's office for comment.