2002 Competitive Research Grants To Improve
Access
The Food and Nutrition Service received a total of 101 proposals from
states, nonprofit groups, and other organizations. The Food and Nutrition
Service thanks all applicants who expressed interest by submission of
proposals. On September 24, 2002, 19 grants totaling $5,046,915.00 were
awarded. This summary chart lists the awardees.
| Name of Organization |
Target Group(s) |
Summary of Project |
| Project Bread- The
Walk for Hunger, Inc |
Low-income working
and unemployed; homeless and unemployed veterans; and, elderly. |
Project Bread, the
state’s leading anti-hunger agency, works closely with the Commonwealth
in creating and implementing outreach strategies to improve access
to a range of federal nutrition programs. The program aims to develop
and test a range of methods to increase Massachusetts residents’
participation in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). This will be accomplished
by pursuing three principle goals: generate an efficient, widely
replicable method through which low-income families and individuals
are able to determine that they are likely eligible for food stamps;
to reduce the stigma associated with the FSP by creating a new context
through which applicants can access benefits; and, enable potential
clients to more effectively navigate the food stamp application
process from community locations where they routinely spend time.
The project targets a combination of urban and rural communities
in order to tackle the distinct needs of people in these settings. |
| Second Harvest Food
Bank of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties |
Low-income working
and unemployed individuals and families; and, immigrants. |
The organization
proposes to conduct a research study to test the effectiveness of
a multi-level marketing approach combined with community-based outreach
and public education to increase food stamp participation. The study
will also address the barriers to participation including the perception
of ineligibility, the inconvenience of the application process,
and the negative social stigma. The targeted population is Hispanic
immigrants and low-income families and individuals residing in the
Santa Cruz and San Benito counties of Central California. The project
will evaluate the results from using outreach workers to educate
and assist clients with the new, simplified California application;
training “Promotores” (community peer volunteers) for face-to-face
interaction and trust building relationships with the clients; and,
the public education campaign which includes print, radio and television
media. |
| Illinois Hunger Coalition |
Employed and unemployed
low-income families (includes sizeable group who left TANF and sizeable
immigrant population). |
This research project
will implement, test and evaluate innovative technology - a web-based
screening tool that assesses eligibility for food stamps, calculates
benefit levels based on income and household size, and produces
a completed application form ready for signature. The project will
evaluate strategies for mailing and faxing applications to DHS offices
completed by trained staff for employed or disabled persons, followed
by phone interviews with a DHS worker. IHC will sub-contract with
Community Catalyst, a private, non-profit organization based in
Boston devoted to national health advocacy. The project also plans
to test a school-based outreach effort through a partnership with
the Chicago Public Schools. |
| Food Bank of Delaware |
Low-income employed
and unemployed. |
The Food Bank of
Delaware (FBD), in partnership with Delaware Health and Social Services,
Division of Social Services (DSS), and the University of Delaware’s
Center for Community Research and Service, intends to conduct FSP
outreach activities that implement measurable approaches to effectively
improve FSP access and increase present food stamp enrollment. Outreach
methods include: partnering with the University of Delaware’s Cooperative
Extension Office to pre-screen enrollees in the existing Life Skills
Program; partnering with existing non-profit Food Bank member agencies
and State Service Centers to pre-screen and assist potential food
stamp recipients in completing the application process; and, using
the web to disseminate updated FSP information and a one-page pre-screening
tool. |
| Name of Organization |
Target Group(s) |
Summary of Project |
| Connecticut Association
for Human Services |
Low-income families;
current and recent TANF recipients; elderly; and, immigrants and
non-English speaking minorities. |
The Connecticut Association
for Human Services (CAHS) intends to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of the FSP in Bridgeport. The Bridgeport Child Advocacy
Coalition (BCAC) will be the local non-profit agency partnering
in these efforts, and a local advisory committee will guide the
project. CAHS will collaborate with the State and local food stamp
offices on data collection. This project is designed to test two
models of increasing food stamp enrollment among eligible non-participants.
Using community linkages and trained outreach workers, CAHS will
educate potential eligible people about the nutritional benefits
of the FSP and the application process. |
| ACORN Institute |
Low-income Latino
families; and, low-income immigrant families. |
The ACORN Institute,
in conjunction with the Institute and two partner community-based
organizations, New Jersey ACORN and New Jersey ACORN Housing Corporation,
will measure the effectiveness of four community-based outreach
strategies through: grocery stores, local schools, door-to-door
canvassing, and high volume sites in Jersey City, NJ. They will
also test the effectiveness of providing pre-screening and application
assistance to potential applicants in non-governmental offices and
other community locations. Additionally, the local food stamp office
will dedicate two days per month exclusively to enroll people reached,
one day in the food stamp office and one off-site, which in turn
will add direct enrollment efforts. ACORN Institute will also develop
systems to track the number of people reached, pre-screened, applying
and enrolled in the FSP through each outreach method, as well as
the hours spent on each outreach method, and cost. They plan to
evaluate the overall time and cost-effectiveness of each strategy
to be able to identify possible enrollment barriers throughout all
the stages of the process. |
| Name of Organization |
Target Group(s) |
Summary of Project |
| Community Harvest
Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc. |
Newly unemployed;
working poor; and, low-income people of all ages including senior
citizens in 9 counties. |
The project will
target the newly unemployed, working poor, and low-income people
of all ages (including senior citizens) in Allen, Adams, DeKalb,
Huntington, Noble, Wells and Whitley counties. Current participation
in the FSP in the area is low due to confusion as to eligibility
requirements and application procedures, perceived “shame” in going
to the food stamp office, and food stamp office hours that are incompatible
with the schedules of the working poor. Community Harvest Food Bank
will hire four Food Stamp Outreach Associates to take applications
from potential food stamp recipients through direct service programs,
through member agencies’ programs and pantries, and at select Kroger
stores within the participating counties. By going to where the
food stamp candidates already are, it will offer “one-stop shopping”
and eliminate the time-consuming step of going to the local food
stamp office several different times in order to complete the application
process. |
| Maternity Care Coalition |
Former TANF recipients;
and, isolated under-served populations with low English literacy. |
Maternity Care Coalition (MCC)
will implement the MOMobile® Program to access the best working
strategies to increase enrollment in the FSP and thereby decrease
food insecurity among eligible but non-participating vulnerable
pregnant women and families with very young children. MCC’s MOMobile®
Program will provide outreach, health promotion education, and family
support to more than 3,000 families per year in neighborhoods with
high rates of infant mortality, child abuse, and poverty by having
MCC’s community health workers make regular home visits to families
in brightly colored minivans. These workers will also be trained
to provide the three levels of intervention: education, pre-screening
and direct application assistance. They will target individuals
in Montgomery and Delaware counties who have difficulties accessing
the FSP. |
| North Carolina Department
of Health and Human Services |
Elderly in 9 counties. |
The North Carolina
Division of Aging (DOA) in cooperation with the Division of Social
Services (DSS) intends to conduct a cost-effective research project
to improve outreach and access to the FSP for eligible older adults
living in South Central North Carolina. They plan to test strategies
to reduce and overcome the number of barriers impeding eligible
older adults from applying for food stamps, and will produce research
findings on the cost-effectiveness of each strategy. The project
will employ a design similar to a quasi-experimental design with
internal and external comparison groups. |
| Greater Philadelphia
Coalition Against Hunger |
Low-income unemployed
and working families with children. |
The greater Philadelphia
Coalition Against Hunger proposes to test two approaches to developing
public/private partnerships that encourage eligible, but non-participating
residents to register for food stamps. The first approach will test
a “one-stop shopping public benefits and Earned Income Tax Credit
(EITC)” information and enrollment campaign. The second approach
will be a volunteer-based recruitment and training effort that will
engage students and communities of faith in food stamp pre-screening
and enrollment of potential clients. The Philadelphia Campaign for
Working Families is establishing a high-quality, accessible system
for the filing of EITC applications. By providing information and
access to other public benefits and entitlements, the Campaign is
creating “one-stop shopping” sites throughout the city. Some Campaign
staff will be based at neighborhood sites such as libraries and
schools. The second approach will turn to volunteers drawn from
local faith-based organizations and campus-based, service-learning
projects to reach out to potentially eligible food stamp participants
currently frequenting soup kitchens, food cupboards, community school
centers, and supermarkets. |
| The Kentucky Task
Force on Hunger |
Former recipient
of TANF; able- bodied adults without dependents; low-income working
poor families with children, elderly, and, immigrants. |
The project proposes
to address barriers to participation such as confusion about eligibility,
lack of information about the FSP, insensitive and misinformed caseworkers,
transportation difficulties, inconvenient office hours, lengthy
and difficult application process, and language barriers. The barriers
will be addressed by the use of Community Resource Advocates, who
are caseworkers from poor and low-income backgrounds that will provide
accurate information in a sensitive manner. They will also train
staff from twelve partner agencies such as emergency food centers,
senior centers, WIC offices, etc. With the assistance of the Advocates,
the partner agencies will also extend their hours of operation.
Transportation issues will be addressed with the participation of
the Red Cross Wheels transportation service. A project coordinator
will work with the Food Stamp Advisory Committee to develop and
test a simplified application form that will eventually be available
on-line. |
| Muskegon Community
Health Project, Inc. |
Low-income employed
persons; Veterans; and, Hispanic people. |
The Muskegon Community
Health Project (MCHP), in partnership with 10 human and social service
agencies from 3 counties, will strengthen and coordinate relationships
among nutrition assistance providers to increase awareness and participation
in the FSP and to improve access to the FSP. Their objectives are
to develop a secure computer subsystem for project data collection
and maintenance; educate 4,000 persons about the benefits, eligibility
rules, and application procedures of the FSP; assist 2,000 persons
to participate in the FSP; identify barriers to participation in
the FSP process; develop strategies to overcome barriers to participation
in the FSP; and, evaluate project outcomes. |
| Vermont Campaign
to End Childhood Hunger |
Eligible individuals
and families |
The Vermont Campaign
to End Childhood Hunger (VTCECH) will launch a program to investigate
the effectiveness of mass-marketing techniques and the World Wide
Web to increase participation in the state’s FSP. A web site that
describes how the FSP works, who is eligible, how to apply, and
the economic and nutrition benefits of the FSP will be developed.
This site will address barriers to participation, including misperceptions
of eligibility and the stigma often associated with benefits programs,
and privacy and confidentiality concerns. It will also include a
confidential FSP eligibility pre-screening tool and an electronic
application request function. Furthermore, the web site will be
publicized through a statewide mass-marketing campaign, with a special
focus on increasing access through the use of public computers. |
| Salem Keizer School
District 24J |
Low-income working
families; immigrants; and, former TANF families. |
The Salem-Keizer
School District, Willamette University and the State Department
of Human Services will partner to research the effectiveness of
innovative ways to improve the participation rates for FSP benefits
in Salem. Their tested model will be a school-based outreach, education,
and enrollment program. The schools will incorporate food stamp
pre-screening and enrollment into their Family Health Coordinators’
resource plans, which will be accessible at the school site for
families in need. They will also partner with Oregon State University
(in-kind contribution) to have each school offer adult education
classes for parents and community members in shopping for maximum
use of benefits as well as making culturally appropriate, nutritious
meals from locally available products. |
| Human Service Coalition
of Dade County |
Working individuals
and families. |
The Human Services
Coalition of Miami-Dade County, Inc. (HSC) will enroll low-income
employees through businesses, welfare-to-work agencies and job retraining
agencies using roving “fringe benefits specialists” and RealBenefits,
an internet-based toolset that allows calculations of food stamp
eligibility and award amounts. HSC will target low-income employees
of businesses affiliated with the Miami-Dade County regional and
bi-national Chambers of Commerce. They will test the potential of
increasing enrollment in the FSP through a new strategy of partnership-building
with the business community in Miami-Dade County. |
| Food Bank of Central
New York |
Low-income unemployed
and underemployed; former TANF recipients; elderly; immigrants;
and, Non-English speaking minorities. |
The Food Bank of
Central New York plans to help people access the FSP by informing
potential participants of program benefits and requirements while
facilitating applications through technology and community partnerships.
Community-based organization staff and volunteers will be trained
to pre-screen individuals for food stamp eligibility. They will
utilize a CD disc that contains a series of questions. Further assistance
will be provided in completing the county food stamp application
form in a confidential manner. |
| Community Action
Program for Madison County, Inc. |
Former TANF recipients;
elderly; and, working poor. |
Madison County plans
to increase food stamp participation by 25%. It plans to reduce
the stigma associated with applying for food stamps by promoting
the nutritional benefits of the program. Madison County will conduct
its research by having participants process their applications through
the Internet and partnerships. Participants will be pre-screened
for eligibility and will fill out applications on-line. |
| City of Atlantic,
NJ |
Elderly; English
and Spanish speaking minorities. |
The City will develop
procedures and methods to encourage greater use of food stamps by
building partnerships with organizations such as the Atlantic City
Housing Authority, Atlantic Human Resources, Inc., Spanish Community
Center, and the Atlantic County Department of Family and Community
Development, the office that administers the FSP. The City proposes
a “one-stop-shopping” approach in which, they will pre-screen clients,
take applications, ensure all verifications are in place and forward
the applications to the County food stamp office. Some of the pre-screenings
and application assistance will occur at City Hall. |
| Community Action
Project of Tulsa County |
Working and unemployed
families; former TANF recipients; Spanish speaking immigrants; elderly;
and, disabled. |
Community Action
Project of Tulsa County (CAP) will conduct an 18-month research
project to improve access to the FSP. CAP will conduct this project
with the use of new technology and partnerships. The Internet will
be used to facilitate access to food stamp forms and applications.
CAP will pre-screen potential recipients, through the Internet,
to see if they are eligible for the FSP. CAP will train its staff
in this program so they can better assist their clients. |
Last modified:
04/11/2012
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