An Assessment of the Roles and Effectiveness of Community-Based Organizations in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

This report assessed the roles and effectiveness of the use of community-based organizations (CBOs) to conduct Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicant interviews, as part of the Community Partner Interviewer (CPI) demonstration projects. The study sought to describe the CBOs that conducted the interviews, explain the nature of the partnerships between the CBOs and SNAP personnel, and examine associations between the CPI demonstration projects and SNAP outcomes, such as timeliness, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Data sources included site visits to SNAP offices and CBO sites in four states, a SNAP client satisfaction survey, analysis of SNAP administrative data, and a review of extant data from SNAP Quality Control reports and state CPI evaluation reports.