Local Control, Discretion, and Administrative Burden: SNAP Interview Waivers/Caseloads During COVID

Local Control, Discretion, and Administrative Burden: SNAP Interview Waivers and Caseloads During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Colleen Heflin, William Clay Fannin, Leonard Lopoo

American Review of Public Administration, July 2023

Colleen Heflin

William Clay Fannin

Leonard M. Lopoo

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Center for Policy Research

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

Maxwell X Lab

COVID-19

Food Security

U.S. Health Policy

United States

American Review of Public Administration

Colleen Heflin

William Clay Fannin

Leonard M. Lopoo

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture waived the certification interview for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), substantially reducing the administrative burden associated with SNAP application for both applicants and agencies.

Using primary policy data collected from ten county-administered states, we find that only 27% of counties implemented the interview waiver. Further, models of local decision-making indicate that public health risk, demographic vulnerability and economic need, and political orientation in the county were not statistically significant predictors of waiver use.

Finally, we find that the waiver choice did affect SNAP caseloads: using difference-in-difference models that make use of the natural experiment, we find that counties that adopted the SNAP interview waivers experienced a 5% increase in SNAP caseloads.