Fiscal Year 2021 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Quality Control Database

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest of the domestic nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). SNAP provides millions of Americans with the means to purchase food for a nutritious diet. During fiscal year (FY) 2021, SNAP served an average of 41.6 million people monthly and paid out $108 billion in benefits, including emergency allotments to supplement SNAP benefits during the COVID-19 public health emergency.The characteristics of SNAP participants and households and the size of the SNAP caseload change over time in response to changes in program rules as well as economic and demographic trends. To quantify these changes or estimate the effect of adjustments to program rules on the current SNAP caseload, FNS relies on data from the SNAP Quality Control (QC) Database. This database is an edited version of the raw data file of monthly case reviews that are conducted by State SNAP agencies to assess the accuracy of eligibility determinations and benefit calculations for their SNAP caseloads. These data cover the last three months of FY 2021.