Final Rule: SNAP Employment and Training Program Monitoring, Oversight and Reporting Measures

Summary

The final rule implements the SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) provisions of section 4022(a)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (PL 113-79) (the Act). The Department published an interim final rule on March 24, 2016 (81 FR 15613), that became effective May 23, 2016, and received 43 comments, 36 were substantive.

The final rule establishes information sources that FNS will use for assessing the effectiveness of E&T programs in preparing E&T participants for employment, including obtaining of necessary skills and increasing the number of E&T participants who obtain and retain employment upon completion of participation in E&T. The final rule also specifies the authority of FNS to require a state agency to make modifications to its SNAP E&T state plan to improve outcomes if FNS determines through an assessment of the effectiveness that the E&T outcomes are inadequate.

The final rule requires state agencies to identify an outcome reporting measure for every component that is designed to serve at least 100 participants a year in annual E&T state plan.

The final rule also requires state agencies to submit an E&T annual report by April 15th each year that contains the following:

• Employment and earnings national reporting measures that consist of four consecutive quarters of data from the two previous federal fiscal years (FY);
• Educational national reporting measures that consist of data from the FY ending the preceding Sept. 30th;
• Employment and earnings national reporting measures and educational national reporting measures for each of seven (7) participant characteristics;
• States that serve mandatory E&T participants will report on the number of SNAP participants required to participate in E&T and referred to E&T and the number and percentage of SNAP participants that were deemed ineligible for SNAP benefits due to failure to comply with E&T requirements;
• Number and percentage of E&T participants for the FY ending the preceding Sept. 30th by nine (9) participant characteristics;
• Component measures identified in the states' E&T state plan for components that are designed to serve at least 100 participants a year; and
• States that have committed to offering at-risk ABAWDs a slot in a qualifying activity and received an additional allocation of funds will report on:
  • The monthly average number of individuals in the state who meet the conditions of an at-risk ABAWD;
  • The number of individuals the state offers a position in a work program or workfare program;
  • The monthly average number of individuals who participate in such programs; and
  • A description of the types of employment and training programs the state agency offered to at-risk ABAWDs and the availability of those programs throughout the state.

The final rule specifies that state agencies may be required to submit the E&T annual report in a standardized format specified by FNS.

The final rule will also reinstate regulatory language in 7 CFR 273.24(a) for the definition of a workfare program for the purposes of meeting the ABAWD work requirement. This definition was inadvertently removed during a prior rulemaking.

Dates

State agencies must implement all provisions of this rule no later than Oct. 1, 2025.

State agencies with questions should contact their respective regional office representatives.

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