Those of us who work with HHS public sector clients know that change is inevitable, whether it is driven by new legislation, changes in administration, or just continuous process improvement of government programs. This blog explains some of the ways the 2018 Farm Bill, passed by Congress and signed by the President in December 2018, may launch the need for technology support.
At a high level, the 2018 Farm Bill reauthorizes SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) - formerly known as the Food Stamp program – through 2023. While the final version of the bill does not call for significant change to SNAP eligibility, it does include several provisions related to SNAP Employment & Training (E&T), as well as a variety of other changes regarding Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), Quality Control (QC), SNAP-Ed Reporting, and the use of SNAP for online food purchases.
The two changes that will most likely require new technology initiatives at the State level are as follows:
1-The legislation mandated the establishment of the National Accuracy Clearinghouse (NAC) - a technology-based solution designed to curb interstate dual participation in SNAP. The premise of the NAC is simple – states contribute daily files of their active SNAP participants in a common format to a centralized database. The states then submit information requests to the database on program applicants, and the NAC looks for overlapping information on a range of data points, such as Social Security Numbers, names, and dates of birth (DOB), to determine if the individual is already a SNAP recipient in another state.
The Farm Bill required USDA/FNS to issue guidance for nationwide implementation of the NAC within eighteen months of enactment, and regulations have yet to be released. The legislation requires these regulations to “incorporate best practices and lessons learned” from the NAC pilot conducted in five southeastern states in 2014-15. The evaluation of the pilot found that states that integrated the NAC into their eligibility systems realized significantly better outcomes (i.e. prevention of dual participation) than those that did not. So, in addition to the creation of contributory files, which are necessary for the NAC to match information, states can expect to develop ways to effectively incorporate the information returned from the database into eligibility systems and business processes.
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At a high level, the 2018 Farm Bill reauthorizes SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) - formerly known as the Food Stamp program – through 2023. While the final version of the bill does not call for significant change to SNAP eligibility, it does include several provisions related to SNAP Employment & Training (E&T), as well as a variety of other changes regarding Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), Quality Control (QC), SNAP-Ed Reporting, and the use of SNAP for online food purchases.
The two changes that will most likely require new technology initiatives at the State level are as follows:
1-The legislation mandated the establishment of the National Accuracy Clearinghouse (NAC) - a technology-based solution designed to curb interstate dual participation in SNAP. The premise of the NAC is simple – states contribute daily files of their active SNAP participants in a common format to a centralized database. The states then submit information requests to the database on program applicants, and the NAC looks for overlapping information on a range of data points, such as Social Security Numbers, names, and dates of birth (DOB), to determine if the individual is already a SNAP recipient in another state.
The Farm Bill required USDA/FNS to issue guidance for nationwide implementation of the NAC within eighteen months of enactment, and regulations have yet to be released. The legislation requires these regulations to “incorporate best practices and lessons learned” from the NAC pilot conducted in five southeastern states in 2014-15. The evaluation of the pilot found that states that integrated the NAC into their eligibility systems realized significantly better outcomes (i.e. prevention of dual participation) than those that did not. So, in addition to the creation of contributory files, which are necessary for the NAC to match information, states can expect to develop ways to effectively incorporate the information returned from the database into eligibility systems and business processes.
More Info: jobs for a+ certification entry level
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