The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed the Quality Control (QC) process for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 1977 to track and measure errors in both eligibility and benefit determination for the program. States conduct monthly reviews of a statistically representative sample of participating households (active cases) and households for whom participation was denied, terminated, or suspended (negative cases). These reviews measure the validity of SNAP cases and ultimately serve as the basis for the SNAP payment error rate. The SNAP QC process also provides FNS with a probability‐based national sample that supports research on the SNAP population.

National completion rates for SNAP QC reviews have generally declined since peak levels in the 1980s and State‐level completion rates vary widely. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors contributing to incomplete reviews of active cases and to describe best practices associated with high SNAP QC completion rates. Maximizing these completion rates will enable FNS to minimize bias in the QC dataset and most accurately estimate the eligibility and benefit errors made by States.