Key Takeaways
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is vital to alleviating senior hunger, but older adults are the population least likely to be enrolled.
This brief summarizes promising practices in outreach, application assistance, and follow-up to increase senior SNAP enrollment.
It includes examples of practices related to outreach, application assistance and follow-up, and advocacy that have been used to successfully increase seniors’ enrollment into SNAP.
The Senior SNAP Enrollment Initiative is designed to fight senior hunger by increasing the effectiveness of community-based organizations and agencies that help older adults enroll in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). With support from the Walmart Foundation, NCOA has distributed over $2 million in grants to more than 40 community-based organizations and agencies that conduct SNAP outreach and assist older adults with the application process.
About this brief
After awarding a second round of grants in 2015, NCOA engaged Social Policy Research Associates (SPR) to produce a brief that summarizes promising practices in outreach, application assistance, and follow-up, and may be replicated by community organizations seeking effective ways to increase senior SNAP enrollment and to alleviate senior hunger.
The practices selected were drawn from four grantees:
- Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut (AASCC)
- DC Hunger Solutions (DCHS)
- Korean Women’s Association (KWA)
- Senior Community Outreach Services (SCOS), Inc.
