Georgia to Receive $4 Million High Performance Bonus for Management of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

ATLANTA– Governor Sonny Perdue announcedtoday that the state of Georgia will receive a High Performance Bonus of $4 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its management of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program.

“Georgia has made great strides in providing better administration of SNAP,” said Governor Perdue.  “I want to commend Commissioner B.J. Walker and all the employees at the Department of Human Services for providing efficient service to some of Georgia’s neediest citizens. In difficult economic times, we will continue to strive to deliver core services to Georgians and serve as a model for the nation.”

The average national payment error rate for FY 2008 was 5.01 percent. Georgia’s average, 2.5 percent, was less than half of the national average. Georgia was also the most improved in the country. In FY 2007, Georgia’s payment error rate was 8.13 percent.

In addition, Georgia also outperformed the nation in the negative error rate which measures whether a state correctly determines eligibility. Georgia’s negative error rate was 4.13 percent, while the national average was 10.88 percent.

“This performance is an awesome tribute to the caseworkers at the county offices who remain focused on making Georgia the most improved SNAP program in the nation – all while caseloads have grown at a pace of over ten thousand new cases a month in the last year,” said Commissioner Walker.

In her letter announcing the High Performance Bonus, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Julia Paradis wrote to Governor Perdue, “I personally want to commend you for your achievement and encourage you to continue your efforts to improve program integrity and the overall administration of SNAP. Proper administration of this important nutrition assistance program results in public confidence as we work together to provide services to needy Americans.”

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