Selected Summary Findings In Brief

Study of Arizona Adults Leaving the Food Stamp Program (Abt March 2002):

• Adults with dependents or a disability who did not receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) at any time during the 12 months preceding their food stamp exit showed the highest degree of self-sufficiency (independence from both public benefits and private support and higher earnings).
• Adults with dependents or a disability who received TANF at some time during the 12 months preceding their exit improved the most in their post-exit employment situation.
• Able-bodied adults without dependents and adults with dependents or a disability who received TANF showed the strongest evidence of post-exit hardship and deprivation (living with family or friends while paying no rent or partial rent, no health insurance coverage, and food insecure with moderate or severe hunger).

Food Stamps in Illinois (Mathematica March 2001):

• Most food stamp leavers report leaving the FSP because of an employment or earnings increase.
• Families are more likely than other groups of households to have left because of an employment or earnings increase.
• Many food stamp leavers return to the program. Half returned within the next 24 months.
• Just about half of all leavers are employed in any given month after FSP exit, and many work in low-wage jobs. Families are more likely than other household types to be employed and to have higher earnings.
• Food stamp leavers as a group have fairly low incomes. Approximately two years after they exited the FSP, more than half had incomes below the poverty level.
• Family leavers reported more income two years after FSP exit than ABAWDs (Able-bodied adults without dependents) or the elderly/disabled leavers. Similarly, rural leavers had higher incomes and were less likely to be in poverty than urban leavers.
• Many food stamp leavers reported having fair or poor health or reported other health problems during the year prior to the interview.
• There is considerable prevalence of food insecurity among food stamp leavers as a group. Food insecurity is higher among ABAWDs than among other groups of leavers.
• Serious hardships are fairly common among food stamp leavers as a group, especially among ABAWDs and the elderly/disabled.

Food Stamps in South Carolina (Maximus):

• The employment rate for ABAWD leavers was 55%. Of those who worked, the average monthly earnings was $1,229.
• Work hours for ABAWD eavers averaged about 37 hours per week.
• Only 16% of ABAWD leavers cited difficulty in finding a job as a reason for lack of work.
• Over half (57%) the ABAWD leavers were high school dropouts.
• Almost half (46%) of ABAWD leavers had household income below the poverty level, and 12% were in severe poverty.
• Over half of ABAWD leavers had no health insurance of any kind, 29% reported difficulties paying for housing, and 65% had problems paying their utility bills.

Food Stamps in Iowa (USDA July 2002):

• Nearly 58 percent of those participating in the FSP in 1997 were not participating in the program when interviewed in 1999.
• Those who left the FSP in 1997 (including working age adults without dependents or a disability) had better economic and employment outcomes than others.
• Adults without dependents or a disability who remained in the FSP in 1997 had the greatest hardships: They were most likely to have very low income, had less contribution from earned income, and were more likely to experience food insecurity and hunger in the last year.
• Over half of all of the households in the survey had used private food assistance in the past year.

Synthesis of findings from 8 case studies (USDA January 2001):

• Barriers to access:
  • Formal or informal job search diversion policies (e.g. overzealous promotion of employment goals to the point of urging clients to visit the unemployment office before filing for food stamp benefits)
  • Limited office hours
  • Burdensome verification requirements (e.g. multiple interviews with employment-related staff before the food stamp application can be completed)
  • Shortened food stamp certification periods
  • Lack of E&T services to help ABAWDs meet their work requirement and maintain benefits (e.g. limited E&T services for non-TANF food stamp clients, particularly ABAWDs and those who were not job ready, despite, in one State, a general policy to provide these services to all clients)
  • Food stamp sanctions for noncompliance with TANF rules (e.g. more punitive food stamp sanctions for noncompliance with TANF rules and E&T work requirements, sometimes without opportunities for conciliation)
  • Privatization of the TANF eligibility process (leading to lack of coordination between TANF and food stamp certification and change reporting processes)
• Local office characteristics may influence how State welfare reform policies are implemented.