Objective: To reduce child food insecurity in rural households by raising Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to offset higher transportation costs and further strengthen SNAP work incentives.~Target Population: SNAP households with: (1) positive net income, (2) at least one child under the age of 18 by the end of the demonstration period, and (3) living in 17 geographically isolated and poor counties in eastern Kentucky.~Intervention: Households were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. Households in the treatment group received an extra monthly SNAP benefit amount through two new intervention-related deductions to the SNAP benefit formula: (1) a fixed deduction, depending on county of residence, for transportation costs for six round trips to the grocery store per month; and (2) an earnings deduction equal to 10 percent of earned income for households with at least one employed household member. Households in the control group continued to receive their regular monthly SNAP benefit amounts.
The 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization provided funding to test innovative strategies to end childhood hunger and food insecurity. Demonstration projects were funded in Chickasaw Nation, Kentucky, Navajo Nation, Nevada, and Virginia. This study focuses on Kentucky.~Households in the treatment group received an extra monthly SNAP benefit amount through two new intervention-related deductions to the SNAP benefit formula: (1) a fixed deduction, depending on county of residence, for transportation costs for six round trips to the grocery store per month; and (2) an earnings deduction equal to 10 percent of earned income for households with at least one employed household member. Households in the control group continued to receive their regular monthly SNAP benefit amounts.