The Case for Multiple Avenues to Submit SNAP Verifications
What does the data tell us about how clients like to submit verifications for SNAP? Multiple methods are needed to get all verifications to an agency. (See an example of the multiple avenues clients can submit verification with mRelief.)
In San Francisco, one of our pilot counties in California, we analyzed 361 documents submitted by 100 CalFresh applicants in February.
While it’s true that the largest percentage of submissions were in-person (59%), that is likely driven by our offering of free rides to the office and the County’s commitment to providing the CalFresh card on the day of the interview. SNAP directors looking to make a dent in documents submission might have gains investing in alternative submission strategies that feed into their existing systems.
A closer look at the data shows that in 33.3% of cases, mRelief clients used text messaging as one of the channels to submit required documents. However, 19.6% of clients submitted verifications through multiple methods including DocuSign, SMS or Web. As a standalone, strategies involving uploads or DocuSign were under 3%. There is a huge opportunity to continue to move the participation needle by giving clients avenues to send verifications through more avenues than in-person or online.
