Resource Library

Households in rural counties (14.4%) participate in SNAP more often than those located in small town counties (13.8%) and metropolitan counties (11.3%), according to FRAC analysis. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s first line of defense against hunger and a key weapon for assisting low-income Americans and low-income communities.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires states to describe how they will serve groups with potential access problems in their P-EBT state plan for the 2020–2021 school year. This document includes strategies states can implement to ensure all eligible children can access P-EBT this school year.

To identify current practices and the capacity to address food insecurity among children and families, the AAP and the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) conducted an online survey. This report provides a snapshot of the findings based on the responses of 327 currently practicing pediatricians.

This resource weighs the pros and cons of multiple federal nutrition programs. It is a part of Screen and Intervene: A Toolkit for Pediatricians to Address Food Insecurity.

The report focuses on total meals served in April 2020 in the school and out-of-school time nutrition programs to explore the impact of COVID-19 on school, summer, and afterschool meals program operations. It also analyzes the reach of free and reduced-price meals to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on low-income children.

FRAC’s transition recommendations provide a roadmap for the Biden-Harris Administration to address hunger in America. It sets forth the harms of food insecurity, summarizes the strengths of the federal nutrition programs, and concludes with high-priority recommendations for administrative and legislative asks that need to be taken to reduce hunger and poverty.

This report sheds light on why many immigrant families are forgoing vital assistance from federal nutrition and food programs and lifts up recommendations aimed at ensuring that all families and individuals, regardless of immigration status, are nourished and healthy. 

Wyoming’s experience P-EBT provides insight into the rewards of directly issuing the benefits instead of requiring applications and how a state could move from an application process to direct issuance. 

Schools and community sponsors operating the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), the Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Afterschool Meal Program can receive federal funding for providing meals on weekends, school holidays, and school breaks during this school year. As COVID-19 continues to disproportionately impact families with children, this remains an important but currently underutilized opportunity to reduce hunger and support good nutrition during COVID-19 and to support program operations while drawing down additional federal reimbursements.

Food banks play a critical role in expanding the reach of the federally funded child nutrition programs to meet the growing need, including during COVID-19 and beyond. With vast networks and programmatic expertise, food banks are natural leaders in promoting and providing summer and afterschool meals and working with program providers and partners to serve meals at sites across the country.

This archived brief from 2005 highlights timeliness incentives for SNAP applications.

The Food Research & Action Center and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities conducted a rapid assessment project to document the development and implementation of P-EBT benefits covering the spring of 2020. This report, by Kone Consulting, identifies the various approaches states took to implement P-EBT in the spring and summer of 2020, as well as key preliminary lessons state officials and other stakeholders have learned. This information will help states to strengthen implementation efforts when Congress extends this option for the FY2020-2021 school year.

This guide is designed to help increase school breakfast participation in secondary schools. It provides strategies and best practices for the successful implementation of breakfast after the bell programs that were based on conversations with principals across the country.

Launch page to open interactive map and tables for 2020 summer nutrition reports (with data on summer programs in July 2019)

The Food Research & Action Center and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities conducted a rapid assessment project to document the development and implementation of P-EBT benefits covering the spring of 2020.