According to a federal grant application, the Department of Agriculture is offering approximately $6 million to state agencies to promote “racial fairness” through a training program for food stamp program recipients.
The grant is associated with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) employment and training program (E&T), which assists food stamp recipients in “acquiring the skills, education, training, and experience that lead to good, stable jobs and increased economic stability.”
It was made available approximately two weeks ago, and submissions are due in late August.
“Proposed studies should ultimately increase the ability of States to use data to continuously analyze and change SNAP E&T policy and operations to improve and maintain equitable access and outcomes of E&T programs for all participants,” according to the award.
Republicans have characterized as discriminatory the Democratic Party’s shift toward equity, which prioritizes equal outcomes.
According to the White House, equity is “the continuous and systematic fair, equitable, and impartial treatment of all individuals, particularly members of underprivileged communities who have been denied such treatment.”
According to the Department of Agriculture, every state in the United States is required to operate a SNAP E&T program, and federal funding is provided annually for program maintenance.
According to the grant, E&T programs have “considerable potential for advancing equity for underserved populations,” but states may lack the experience or resources to evaluate whether they are acting “equitably.”
The grant states that programs lack a “user-friendly method of collecting data” to promote racial equity. States are required to collect information on E&T program participants to receive funding.
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Applicants are required to provide the Biden administration with information regarding the diversity of their organization’s leadership and whether or not their E&T programs may be fostering “inequitable outcomes,” such as food stamp participation.
“How will the project reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the participation and outcomes of SNAP E&T programming? How will the project promote fairness? stated in the grant application.
The Biden administration has maintained a commitment to equity. Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that rescinded an order from the Trump administration prohibiting federal contractors from offering diverse programs and training in the workplace and directed federal agencies to conduct “equity assessments.”
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In June 2021, Vice President Biden also signed an order mandating diversity training for federal agencies.
The order aimed to “promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the Federal workforce” and instructed the Office of Personnel Management to review wage regulations to ensure “pay equity.”
The Department of Agriculture released an equity action plan in April “in support” of Biden’s January 2021 order.
The plan outlined how the agency’s programs were mandated to “incorporate equity into the farm, family, and food programs that touch the lives of every American – including bolstering civil rights where improvements are needed.”
