by KHI News Service
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded Kansas more than $620,000 for improvements in its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment error rate.
Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said the state had been in danger of being penalized for its food assistance program error rate but now ranks among the nation’s leaders.
“We once averaged 30 days to provide someone an eligibility determination,” she said Monday in a news release announcing the bonus. “A client now knows if he/she is approved for food assistance within eight to 10 days.”
SNAP, also known as food stamps, offers nutrition assistance to low-income people throughout the country.
The USDA said the Kansas SNAP payment error rate improved from 3.99 percent in fiscal year 2013 to 0.75 percent in fiscal year 2014. The national average is 3.66 percent.
The payment error rate consists of two components: the overpayment rate and the underpayment rate. Overpayments reflect benefits issued over the amount that a household is entitled to receive, while underpayments reflect benefits that a household is entitled to but did not receive. Kansas overpayment rate is 0.60 percent, while the underpayment rate is 0.14 percent.
The state’s $621,501 SNAP high-performance bonus will be placed in a special fund for SNAP-related activities.
The USDA also said Kansas ranks eighth in the country for another performance award category: best and most improved case and procedural error rate, at 11.27 percent, compared to the national average of 26.3 percent. The top four states will receive bonus funds.
“We are doing more to protect the integrity of this program so that only those who are truly eligible for assistance receive it,” Gilmore said.
DCF currently serves 278,263 food assistance clients. The average benefit per person is $113.26 per month.
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