Pilot Projects to Reduce Dependency and Increase Work Requirements and Work Effort under SNAP

The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service funds pilot projects to reduce dependency and increase work requirements and work effort under SNAP (Assistance Listing 10.596), with the most recent grant award dated April 1, 2015—over eleven years ago.

This program has not issued new grant awards since 2015. The portfolio consists of twelve Cooperative Agreements totaling $127.4 million in federal dollars obligated, all awarded on the same date to state and regional SNAP administrators. The single round of funding in 2015 supported Employment and Training (E&T) pilot projects across multiple states, including Illinois ($13.3 million), Washington ($22.0 million), Virginia ($14.6 million), Kentucky ($17.0 million), Delaware ($12.2 million), Mississippi ($10.8 million), Kansas ($11.2 million), California ($7.3 million), Georgia ($10.1 million), and Vermont ($8.8 million). Two awards carried zero federal dollars obligated. All pilot projects completed between 2018 and 2020.

The program was structured as a time-limited authorization under the Agricultural Act of 2014, which appropriated $200 million for up to ten pilot projects lasting up to three years each. The original solicitation, posted August 25, 2014, with a due date of November 24, 2014, invited any of the 53 State SNAP agencies (fifty states, District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands) to apply. State agencies could apply on behalf of county-administered programs and submit multiple applications.

No grant opportunities have been posted since the 2014 solicitation closed. The program appears inactive for new awards; all twelve funded projects have completed their work, and no subsequent funding cycles have been announced. Organizations should not pursue funding under this Assistance Listing unless the source material has been updated to reflect a new appropriation or solicitation cycle.