This report uses Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) quality control data from FY 2009 to examine the size and impact of payment errors on income and poverty status and to compare the characteristics of households with payment errors to those of households without payment errors.

For each state, presents estimates that measure the need for the Food Stamp Program and the program's effectiveness in reaching its target population in each of the three years from 1998 to 2000. The estimates were derived using empirical Bayes shrinkage estimation methods, which are described...