About Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports
Coordinating SNAP and Nutrition Supports (CSNS) is a cohort program funded by Share Our Strength, No Kid Hungry and administered by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) with the goal of aligning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) with other federal, state, and local nutrition supports to combat childhood hunger.
Announcing CSNS Cohort 2.0 (March 2023)
Four states and counties have been selected to continue advancing SNAP agency innovation and community coordination to promote equity and combat hunger. Learn more here.
A Look Back at Cohort 1
CSNS Cohort 1 consisted of six site projects led by five states and one county agency:
- Hawai‘i Department of Human Services
- Kansas Department for Children and Families & Kansas Department of Health and Environment
- Mecklenburg County (NC) Department of Social Services
- Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
- New Jersey Department of Human Services
- New Mexico Human Services Department & New Mexico Department of Health, WIC Program
Each of the six CSNS sites drove its independent project forward while participating in cohort learning to share best practices and opportunities for policy and practice changes that reduce childhood hunger.
CSNS sites are working to reduce cross-departmental silos, facilitate partnerships with community organizations, improve the experience of families accessing nutrition supports, and leverage data and technology to address systemic barriers and promote equitable access to nutrition benefits. The projects vary in approach and are customized to the vision and challenges of each agency. Project activities range from designing automated data exchanges between SNAP and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to enable targeted outreach to eligible families, using data analytics to better understand gaps in food access, and engaging people with lived expertise to inform human-centered design of food security programs. Read our CSNS Case Studies to learn more about each of the projects.