National Food Stamp Participation Reports

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) tracks and reports participation rates and comparisons of participation rates between states. To see the latest report and learn about why the USDA reports that California ranks last in the country for Food Stamp Participation, click here now.

To see how California's major cities rate in comparison with other large cities in the nation, click here to get a copy of the Food Research and Action Center's Food Stamp Access in Urban America: A City-by-City Snapshot.

California Food Stamp Participation Reports

The California Department of Social Services (DSS) website has a wealth of information about the Food Stamp Program and participation, however, it can sometimes be difficult to understand how to get the numbers you want. Below we have provided you with infomration about how to access this pool of data.

Food Stamp Participation: You will want to go to the CDSS website at www.dss.cahwnet.gov/research/DFA256-Foo_422.htm. Select the month(s) in Excel format.  When it opens, you will see two worksheets at the bottom of the file, select the second.  There is a lot of data here, but it usally has a lag time of about 3 months. Here are some helpful tips:

A. Food Stamp Participation for Households: To determine the number of food stamp cases open for households not receiving public assistance during the selected month, you will add data cells 4,5 &6. 

B. Food Stamp Participation for Individuals (Total): To determine the number people receiving food stamps during the selected month, you will add data cells 18, 19, 20 &21. 

C. Food Stamp Participation for Non-Assistance Food Stamps (NAFS): You may want the NAFS participation rates to help evaluate outreach efforts as most outreach programs are reaching out to people who are not receiving cash assistance like CalWORKs or General Assistance (GA)/General Relief (GR). To determine how many people are receiving food stamps but not cash aid, you will add data cells 8, 11, 12 & 14. 

Pre-calculated participation data: To facilitate the dispersion of information, we will be posting the monthly participation data on this website. This data has not yet been posted.

2006

2007