The following visualizations are constructed using New York’s SNAP Administrative Records (AR) linked with survey responses from the American Community Survey (ACS).

The above interactive visualizations look at eligibility and access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in New York State during 2012.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal program to reduce domestic hunger. In 2010, 40.3 million people participated in SNAP, but an estimated 28 percent of eligible individuals did not participate.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) spends considerable resources on outreach to those who are eligible but—for whatever reason—do not participate in SNAP. Effective outreach depends, though, on the availability of reliable data on the characteristics of people who do and do not participate in SNAP.

The visualization will help address the following questions:

1. What types of people are likely to be eligible?
2. Of those who are likely eligible, what types are more (or less) likely to participate?
3. How do caseloads, entries into, and exits out of the program change over time?
   
4. How do the answers to these questions differ across counties?