Automating the food stamp program

Food and Nutrition, April, 1986 by Jane Mattern Vachon

Automating the Food Stamp Program

In Alaska, information from food stamp applicants is entered directly into a statewide computer system. In Reading, Pennsylvania, food stamp recipients use a plastic debit card instead of paper coupons to purchase groceries. At a Minnesota computer complex, 27 workers process redemption information on 230,000 grocery stores taking part in the program.

Across the country today, automation is changing the face of the Food Stamp Program, presenting opportunities and challenges for food stamp managers at all levels.

"There is no question that as we approach the 21st century, much of the entire food stamp delivery system will be automated," says Joseph Leo, deputy administrator for management at USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). It makes sense, he says, because one of the best applications of computers is keeping track of and analyzing large quantities of data.

"For the Food Stamp Program you're talking in the neighborhood of 20 million people getting monthly benefits. A program serving that size population is a perfect home for the computer," Leo says. "In addition, when you have a time-sensitive process, such as meeting the needs of hungry families, you want to be as responsive as possible."

Accountability also important

A multi-billion dollar program also demands accountability. Computers offer tremendous opportunities to streamline benefit delivery systems and improve accountability.

Some states have automated virtually every aspect of the food stamp delivery process--from certification and issuance, to follow-up investigations and claims collections. This has helped cut down on errors, prevent ineligible people from being certified, and track down people who are receiving benefits fraudulently.

At the federal level, FNS is finding new ways to use automation in tracking the 2-1/2 billion food coupons which each year move through retail stores and the banking community. The agency is also using computers with its quality control system, which monitors errors made in a sample of more than 65,000 cases handled in certification and issuance office across the nation.

In time, computers may revolutionize the way FNS and states work together to keep track of program information, such as participation and coupons issued. Today, most of this data comes to FNS on paper forms, but the agency is laying the groundwork for receiving this data electronically from the states.

A system like this would relieve the current paradoxical situation where some states take information from their automated systems, enter it onto paper forms, and mail it to FNS--all to have FNS employees key it into the agency's computer system.

"Clearly in the not too distant future the potential for moving all this information is there," Leo says. "What's happened so far is the tip of the iceberg. The changes food program staff will see between now and 1990 will be nothing short of an automation phenomenon they've never seen before."

States encouraged to move ahead

Many state and local agencies have already seen a lot of changes. "Right now all the states have active projects going on to automate their programs," Leo says. "Naturally, some are more advanced than others."

Ironically, some states that got into automation early in the 1970's now are lagging behind with outdated equipment. Others, like Alaska, Vermont, and Texas, have vaulted to the forefront with more recent, state-of-the-art systems.

In the past few years, for example, Texas has automated its client information intake process by installing more than 3,300 computer work stations in its certification offices. Computers guide the eligibility workers through the interview, perform the calculations needed to determine eligibility, calculate the food stamp allotment or AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) grant, and produce a copy of the information for placement in the client's case folder.

To encourage states to automate their programs, FNS provides up to 75-percent enhanced administrative funding for development of computer systems. Once the systems become operational, funding goes back to the standard 50-50 federal-state sharing of administrative costs.

To get enhanced funding, a state first submits a proposal to FNS. FNS regional staff work with the state to make sure the proposal meets program requirements, is cost-effective, and is technologically likely to succeed. Projects involving more than $1 million must be approved by an executive committee at FNS headquarters chaired by Joe Leo.

Sharing information helpful to many

FNS strongly encourages the transfer of successful systems from one state to another when possible. North Dakota, for example, successfully adapted Alaska's advanced computer system with relatively little modification. Such transfers make good fiscal sense because development costs for automated state welfare systems can run into many millions of dollars.

The agency also emphasizes the need for states to develop systems that integrate food stamp, AFDC, and Medicaid programs. Where complete integration would not be cost-effective, as perhaps in a small state, FNS insists on an automated link--a system that can communicate with the computers in the other welfare programs in the state--before enhanced funding will be granted.