Food Stamp Program
Results of the Simplified Application Demonstration Project Gao ID: RCED-87-102 June 11, 1987Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO analyzed the design and implementation of the Food Stamp Program's Simplified Application Demonstration Project, which Congress authorized to reduce administrative costs and errors in program eligibility and benefit determinations.
GAO found that the project: (1) simplified eligibility determinations by deeming applicants eligible if they were already eligible for certain other federal assistance programs; (2) procedures varied by state and county; and (3) resulted in program cost increases of $15.8 million in Illinois and $200,000 in Oklahoma because increases in benefit costs exceeded the savings in administrative errors and costs.