Evaluation of the USDA Elderly Nutrition Demonstrations: Volume I, Evaluation Findings

By Scott Cody and James Ohls. ERS project representative: Elizabeth Dagata

Contractor and Cooperator Report No. (CCR9-1) 215 pp, July 2005

Reducing the burden of applying for food stamps or enhancing benefits appears to increase participation of the elderly in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Historically, low-income seniors ages 60 and older who qualify for FSP benefits participate at low rates because they feel it is not worth the effort to apply. To identify effective strategies for raising participation among this population, USDA designed three models, each using different techniques to reduce the barriers that seniors face in FSP participation. The techniques involve reducing the time and effort of applying for benefits, aiding seniors in navigating the application process, and giving seniors the option of receiving commodity packages instead of getting benefits through electronic benefits transfer cards. The models were tested as county demonstrations in six States between 2002 and 2004. This report presents the findings from an evaluation of the demonstrations. Successful demonstrations increased the number of participating seniors by 20-35 percent after 21 months of operation.

Keywords: Food Stamp Program, FSP, food assistance programs, Elderly Nutrition Demonstration, elderly food stamp recipients, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, FANRP, ERS, USDA

In this report ...

Chapters are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

• Abstract, Acknowledgements, Contents, and Executive Summary, 311 kb
• Chapter I: Introduction, 178 kb
• Chapter II: Eldery Nutrition Demonstrations, 280 kb
• Chapter III: Impacts on Elderly Participation, 615 kb
• Chapter IV: Client Satisfaction, 376 kb
• Chapter V: Demonstraton Costs, 320 kb
• Chapter VI: Conclusions and Policy Implications, 167 kb
• References, 116 kb
• Appendix A: Commodity Package Contents and Comparable Prices, 416 kb
• Appendix B: Selection of Comparison Sites, 206 kb
• Appendix C: Eldery FSP Participation Trends in Demonstration and Comparison Sites, 471 kb
• Appendix D: Regression Results, 458 kb

• Entire Document, 3,950 kb

1. Evaluation of the USDA Elderly Nutrition Demonstrations: Volume II, Demonstration Summaries

2. The Food Stamp Program's Elderly Nutrition Pilot Demonstration: Initial Evaluation Design

3. The Food Stamp Program's Elderly Nutrition Pilot Demonstration: Final Evaluation Design

4. Food Stamp Program—Elderly Nutrition Demonstrations: Interim Report on Elderly Participation Patterns

Updated date: July 27, 2005