Nevada SNAP program to receive nearly $2 million performance bonus
Having improved its methods of fighting fraud and waste with its Supplemental Assistance and Nutrition Program, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services will receive nearly $2 million in additional federal funding as a bonus, officials announced Monday.
Nevada, which was recognized for being one of the most improved programs in the nation in 2015, will get a $1.4 million bonus for its efforts to better serve SNAP recipients, said Nevada Health and Human Services Director Richard Whitley. In addition, nearly $500,000 is also being awarded after it was determined that Nevada was one of two states with the most improved Case and Procedural Error Rates in 2015.
Money received from performance bonus awards must be reinvested in ways that will continue to improve program performance. DWSS is in the process of determining what the money will be spent on.
The purpose of SNAP is to raise the nutritional level among low-income households whose limited food purchasing power contributes to hunger and malnutrition among members of those households. Food benefit expenditures are 100% covered through federal funding, while administrative costs for SNAP are split 50 percent each between federal and state monies (General Fund).
A $1,453,911 bonus relates to Nevada’s improved Program Access Index, which showed an improvement rate of 8.28 percent from the previous year (76.55 percent in 2015; 68.27 percent in 2014), one of best improvement rates in the nation. The PIA is the number of SNAP participants as reported by the state, divided by the estimated number of eligible people in that state.
Nevada’s CAPER improved from 54.87 percent in 2014 to 32.06 percent in 2015, an almost 23 percent increase in SNAP case efficiency. CAPER measures the correctness of a state agency’s actions to deny an application or suspend or terminate benefits of a participating SNAP household, as well as the agency’s compliance with federal requirements, including timeliness. The 2015 national average CAPER was 23.27 percent.