Association of Work Requirements With Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation by Race/Ethnicity and Disability Status, 2013-2017

Spending on public benefit programs and exposure to adverse childhood experiences

BACKGROUND

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with poverty, and public benefit programs are increasingly used as primary prevention for negative child outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the association between spending on benefit programs and cumulative exposure to ACEs among children.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Children aged 0-17 years in the United States during 2016-17 as reported in National Survey of Children's Health.

METHODS

We examined the sum of state and federal spending on 5 categories of public benefit programs at the state-level. The primary exposure was mean annual spending per person living below the Federal poverty limit across 2010-2017 Federal fiscal years. The primary outcome was children <18 years old having ever been exposed to ≥ 4 ACEs.

RESULTS

Nationally, 5.7 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 5.3 % - 6.0 %) of children had exposure to ≥ 4 ACEs. After adjustment for children's race and ethnicity, total spending on benefit programs was associated with lower exposure to ≥ 4 ACEs (odds 0.96 [95 % CI: 0.95, 0.97]; p < 0.001). Increased spending in each individual benefit category was also associated with decreased cumulative ACEs exposure (all p < 0.05). Inverse associations were largely consistent when children were stratified by race and ethnicity and income strata.

CONCLUSIONS

Investments in public benefit programs may not only decrease poverty but also have broad positive effects on near- and long-term child well-being beyond the programs' stated objectives. Findings support federal and state efforts to prioritize families' economic stability as part of a public health model to prevent ACEs.

Public Benefit Programs and Differential Associations With Child Maltreatment by Race and Ethnicity

Importance

Public benefit programs, including state spending on local, state, and federal-state partnership programs, have consistently been associated with overall reductions in child protective services (CPS) involvement. Inequities in eligibility and access to benefit programs may contribute to varying associations by race and ethnicity.

Objective

To determine whether associations between state spending on benefit programs and rates of CPS investigations differ by race and ethnicity.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cross-sectional ecological study used repeated state-level measures of child maltreatment from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System and population estimates from the US Census Bureau for all Black, Hispanic, and White children. All 50 US states from October 1, 2009, through September 30, 2019 (fiscal years 2010-2019), were included. Data were collected and analyzed from May 13, 2022, to March 2, 2023.

Exposures

Annual state spending on benefit programs per person living below the federal poverty limit, total and by the following subcategories: (1) cash, housing, and in-kind; (2) housing infrastructure; (3) child care assistance; (4) refundable earned income tax credit; and (5) medical assistance programs.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Race- and ethnicity-specific rates of CPS investigations. Generalized estimating equations, with repeated measures of states, an interaction between race and spending, and estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% CIs for incremental changes in spending of US $1000 per person living below the federal poverty limit were calculated after adjustment for federal spending, race- and ethnicity-specific child poverty rate, and year.

Results

A total of 493 state-year observations were included in the analysis. The association between total spending and CPS investigations differed significantly by race and ethnicity: there was an inverse association between total state spending and CPS investigations for White children (IRR, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.91-0.98]) but not for Black children (IRR, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.94-1.02]) or Hispanic children (IRR, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.95-1.03]) (P = .02 for interaction). Likewise, inverse associations were present for only White children with respect to all subcategories of state spending and differed significantly from Black and Hispanic children for all subcategories except the refundable earned income tax credit (eg, IRR for medical assistance programs for White children, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.82-0.96]; P = .005 for race and spending interaction term).

Conclusions and Relevance

These results raise concerns that benefit programs may add relative advantages for White children compared with Black and Hispanic children and contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in CPS investigations. States' eligibility criteria and distribution practices should be examined to promote equitable effects on adverse child outcomes.

Medicaid And SNAP Advance Equity But Sometimes Have Hidden Racial And Ethnic Barriers

Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program were developed during the Civil Rights era to help poor people and reduce racial and ethnic differences in health care access and food security. Although the two programs have succeeded in narrowing health and nutrition disparities, certain policies hinder goals of racial and ethnic equity, even though they do not explicitly mention race or ethnicity. These policies, including administrative policies (such as work requirements) and more basic decisions about whether to cover immigrants or expand Medicaid, can create barriers that promote racial and ethnic disparities, contrary to the programs' underlying goals.

Adoption Of Standard Medical Deduction Increased SNAP Enrollment And Benefits In 21 Participating States

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reduces food insecurity but is underused among many households. To increase SNAP participation, twenty-one states have adopted the standard medical deduction (SMD), which simplifies administrative requirements for eligible households (those with older adults or people with disabilities). However, to offset the costs of the SMD, states have reduced SNAP benefits elsewhere, raising concerns of negative spillover effects. Using national data from the period 2004-19 and a fixed-effects estimator, we found that the SMD was associated with increased SNAP participation among SMD-eligible households, in terms of aggregate household counts (20 percent) and as a share of households receiving SNAP (5 percentage points). Moreover, estimated annual SNAP benefits per state increased for SMD-eligible households but decreased (although not statistically significantly) for ineligible households. Offsetting SNAP costs may have benefited households with older adults and households with people with disabilities at the expense of others.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Access and Racial Disparities in Food Insecurity

Importance

Racially minoritized people experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reduces food insecurity.

Objective

To evaluate SNAP access with regard to racial disparities in food insecurity.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cross-sectional study used data from the 2018 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). On the basis of random sampling strategies, 44 870 households were eligible for the SIPP, and 26 215 (58.4%) participated. Sampling weights accounted for survey design and nonresponse. Data were analyzed from February 25 to December 12, 2022.

Exposures

This study examined disparities based on household racial composition (entirely Asian, entirely Black, entirely White, and multiple races or multirace based on SIPP categories).

Main Outcomes and Measures

Food insecurity during the prior year was measured using the validated 6-item US Department of Agriculture Food Security Survey Module. SNAP participation during the prior year was classified based on whether anyone in the household received SNAP benefits. Modified Poisson regression tested hypothesized disparities in food insecurity.

Results

A total of 4974 households that were eligible for SNAP (income ≤130% of the poverty threshold) were included in this study. A total of 218 households (5%) were entirely Asian, 1014 (22%) were entirely Black, 3313 (65%) were entirely White, and 429 (8%) were multiracial or of other racial groups. Adjusting for household characteristics, households that were entirely Black (prevalence rate [PR], 1.18; 95% CI, 1.04-1.33) or multiracial (PR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.06-1.46) were more likely to be food insecure than entirely White households, but associations differed depending on SNAP participation. Among households that did not participate in SNAP, those that were entirely Black (PR, 1.52; 97.5% CI, 1.20-1.93) or multiracial (PR, 1.42; 97.5% CI, 1.04-1.94) were more likely to be food insecure than White households; however, among SNAP participants, Black households were less likely than White households to be food insecure (PR, 0.84; 97.5% CI, 0.71-0.99).

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cross-sectional study, racial disparities in food insecurity were found among low-income households that do not participate in SNAP but not among those that do, suggesting that access to SNAP should be improved. These results also highlight the need to examine the structural and systemic racism in food systems and in access to food assistance that may contribute to disparities.

Giving Families a Voice for Equitable Healthy Food Access in the Wake of Online Grocery Shopping

Understanding the views of families from low-income backgrounds about inequities in healthy food access and grocery purchase is critical to food access policies. This study explored perspectives of families eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on healthy food access in physical and online grocery environments. The qualitative design used purposive sampling of 44 primary household food purchasers with children (aged ≤ 8), between November 2020-March 2021, through 11 online focus groups and 5 in-depth interviews. Grounded theory was used to identify community-level perceived inequities, including influences of COVID-19 pandemic, SNAP and online grocery services. The most salient perceived causes of inequitable food access were neighborhood resource deficiencies and public transportation limitations. Rural communities, people with disabilities, older adults, racially and ethnically diverse groups were perceived to be disproportionately impacted by food inequities, which were exacerbated by the pandemic. The ability to use SNAP benefits to buy foods online facilitated healthy food access. Delivery fees and lack of control over food selection were barriers. Barriers to healthy food access aggravated by SNAP included social stigma, inability to acquire cooked meals, and inadequate amount of monthly funds. Findings provide a foundation for policy redesign to promote equitable healthy food systems.

Insult to injury: National analysis of return to work and financial outcomes of trauma patients

BACKGROUND

While much of trauma care is rightly focused on improving inpatient survival, the ultimate goal of recovery is to help patients return to their daily lives after injury. Although the overwhelming majority of trauma patients in the United States survive to hospital discharge, little is known nationally regarding the postdischarge economic burden of injuries among trauma survivors.

METHODS

We used the National Health Interview Survey from 2008 to 2017 to identify working-age trauma patients, aged 18 to 64 years, who sustained injuries requiring hospitalization. We used propensity score matching to identify noninjured respondents. Our primary outcome measure was postinjury return to work among trauma patients. Our secondary outcomes included measures of food insecurity, medical debt, accessibility and affordability of health care, and disability.

RESULTS

A nationally weighted sample of 319,580 working-age trauma patients were identified. Of these patients, 51.7% were employed at the time of injury, and 58.9% of them had returned to work at the time of interview, at a median of 47 days postdischarge. Higher rates of returning to work were associated with shorter length of hospital stay, higher education level, and private health insurance. Injury was associated with food insecurity at an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 1.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.40-2.37), with difficulty affording health care at aOR of 1.6 (1.00-2.47), with medical debt at aOR of 2.6 (2.11-3.20), and with foregoing care due to cost at aOR of 2.0 (1.52-2.63). Working-age trauma patients had disability at an aOR of 17.6 (12.93-24.05).

CONCLUSION

The postdischarge burden of injury among working-age US trauma survivors is profound-patients report significant limitations in employment, financial security, disability, and functional independence. A better understanding of the long-term impact of injury is necessary to design the interventions needed to optimize postinjury recovery so that trauma survivors can lead productive and fulfilling lives after injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Economic & Value-Based Evaluations, level II; Prognostic, level II.