Issue Brief 20-24
October 19, 2020
Summary 

On July 6, 2020, the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) released fiscal year (FY) 2019 state payment error rates for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The national payment error rate was 7.36%, up from 6.8% in FY 2018. Twelve states were subject to penalties due to high error rates.

This brief reviews recent changes to the SNAP quality control system, discusses the FY 2019 error rates and associated penalties, and notes the findings of a recent feasibility study.