Work posts

Note a slightly different format to topic, rather than state-based. Snap Interview Waivers in some places expiring Expiration of Waiver of Interview Requirements for SNAP Benefits in Mississippi Beltrami County SNAP interview waiver ends April 30 I would be very curious to see any study performed exploring differences in program administration and case outcomes between while the waiver was in effect, and the before / after where the waiver is not in place. How has the speed of applications changed? Overpayment or underpayment rates? What do the caseworkers think about this change? I also came across this Reddit thread on the impact of interview waivers, but would like to see a structured case study. ...

pd.crosstab is one of those built-in functions in the Pandas API that I forget about routinely. I instinctively reached for df.groupby('x')['y'].count().unstack(), but when I wanted to normalize the values, it takes more and more steps to get where I wanted. This was a nice straightforward overview of the pd.crosstab function. To document for myself, below, create a sample correlated DataFrame with integer columns ActiveUsers and CompletedProfile. import pandas as pd import numpy as np # following code from Github Copilot np.random.seed(0) n = 1000 # Number of samples p = 0.7 # Probability of True in the first column rho = 0.8 # Correlation col1 = np.random.choice([True, False], size=n, p=[p, 1-p]) col2 = np.where(col1, np.random.choice([True, False], size=n, p=[rho, 1-rho]), np.random.choice([True, False], size=n, p=[1-rho, rho])) df = pd.DataFrame({'ActiveUsers': col1, 'CompletedProfile': col2}) ActiveUsersCompletedProfile0TrueTrue1FalseFalse2TrueFalse3...... Sample of the constructed DataFrame ...

Here is Microsoft’s documentation page on the topic. The only reason I am documenting this is because the Azure Resource Explorer failed to load consistently across devices for me. Some tutorials I found, like this one, seem to be outdated and the outbound IP addresses weren’t listed in any Properties menu in the Function App in the Azure Portal. The Azure CLI method was what worked for me: az functionapp show --resource-group <GROUP_NAME> --name <APP_NAME> --query outboundIpAddresses --output tsv az functionapp show --resource-group <GROUP_NAME> --name <APP_NAME> --query possibleOutboundIpAddresses --output tsv I wanted this as I was hoping to whitelist the IP addresses in the database firewall to allow for scheduling some SQL scripts to run daily. The issue with this is the following, copied from the above linked Microsoft documentation: “because of autoscaling behaviors, the outbound IP can change at any time when running on a Consumption plan or in a Premium plan.” While at least a few people say whitelist these IPs anyway, the recommended course of action is to set up a virtual network within Azure. ...

Context Student and supporting organizations wrote a letter to the USDA recommending that the SNAP application interview requirement be removed, with the accompanying press release here. A news article that summarizes the entire P.R. push for this is accessible here through Fortune magazine. Why We Should Rethink the SNAP Interview Requirement: A Former Caseworker’s Perspective is an op-ed from The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) which argues SNAP interviews should be made optional. Based on the author’s experience as a caseworker, the mandatory interviews are largely a pretense for detecting fraud, and the time could be better spent providing holistic assistance to SNAP participants. These “unnecessary interviews that are ineffective at finding what infinitesimal fraud exists” only serve to increase the stigma associated with accessing food stamps by treating applicants as if they “are thieves that must be watched”.1 Unfortunately, the lack of any evidence for or against the effectiveness of SNAP interviews (whatever their purpose may be), the confusing use of statistics, and the wider focus on stigmas associated with SNAP participation resulted in an unconvincing argument. While I agree with the author’s wider points that we should take steps to minimize stigmas of government benefits and that a primary purpose of mandatory SNAP interviews is to verify information, further study of the consequences is warranted before SNAP interviews are made optional. ...

Summary: many warnings about EBT payment scams and theft, alongside a proposal to improve security state bills (and national) continue to propose work requirements and refuse additional SNAP funding for the summer upcoming Farm Bill renewal is stalled by SNAP discussions and funding National Jobs and Opportunities for SNAP Act of 2023 proposed by Senator John Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. The companion U.S. House bill is here. The following is copied from the summary: ...

Written by Larry Gonick & Woollcott Smith Note: This is based on the “Revised and Updated Edition”. Cover page of The Cartoon Guide to Statistics Deriving, and learning when to apply, statistical formulas is always going to be difficult. It turns out that including cartoons does not make it any easier. I would put statistics writing into three general categories: teaching statistical literacy, e.g., How To Lie With Statistics; deriving the principles of statistical concepts, e.g., any college-level textbook; and applying statistical methods, e.g., an academic study. The Cartoon Guide To Statistics tries to do a bit of all three of these, and is worse off for it. The guide covers probability, random variables, sampling, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, experimental design, and regression in just over 200 pages. ...

Written by Darrell Huff and illustrated by Irving Geis. Originally published in 1954. In a sentence: a quick, worthwhile general knowledge read that explains how people misuse statistics through familiar and useful examples (that could use an update). I’ll face up to the serious purpose that I like to think lurks just beneath the surface of this book: explaining how to look a phony statistic in the eye and face it down; and no less important, how to recognize sound and usable data in that wilderness of fraud… ...

The following is a curated list of news articles by U.S. state and nationally that discussed SNAP benefits in February 2024. National Letter from Secretary Vilsack to Governors on SNAP Performance and Operations Poor performance on the SNAP efficiency measures meant 44 states got letters from the USDA expecting improvements. Congressional leaders agree on ag funding as Vilsack talks about SNAP pilot The SNAP pilot they discuss is the SNAP-choice pilot, limiting purchasable foods to “nutrient-dense” foods. Unsurprising that a paternalistic policy with the name “SNAP-choice” is being pushed by a Republican. See the next article for the industry’s response. ...

Microsoft Teams provides an integration with Microsoft Viva, which schedules daily check-ins to record your perception of your mental state. Once a day, at 4pm, I get a notification that asks me to select one of five emojis that reflects how I feel. Clearly, the last few weeks have not been particularly excellent, but I’m not sure what the value of this type of check-in or chart provides. We can come up with reasonable estimates of our own satisfaction with our work. I frequently journal, and I believe that the self-reflection forced through written inquiries gives way to a better sense of being, rather than an even shorter point-in-time indicator with almost no ambiguity. ...

I started to post SNAP performance indicators from the USDA in machine-readable format, aggregating and cleaning the data from the many PDF tables. This repository includes quick-access to cleaned, FIPS-linked CSV long-format tables of yearly state reported indicators for Application Processing Timeliness, Program Error Rates, and Case and Procedural Error Rates (coming soon). USDA Descriptions as follows: Application Processing Timeliness “measures the timeliness of states’ processing of initial SNAP applications. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 entitles all eligible households to SNAP benefits within 30 days of application, or within 7 days, if they are eligible for expedited service.” ...