Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 91.djvu/1011

 PUBLIC LAW 95-113—SEPT. 29, 1977

91 STAT. 977

"(B) food stamp allotments overissued to eligible households; and "(C) food stamp allotments underissued to eligible households; and " (2) the incidence of invalid decisions in certifying or denying eligibility. "(e) As used in this section 'quality control' means monitoring and "Quality reducing the rate of errors in determining basic eligibility and benefit control." levels. "RESEARCH, DEMONSTRATION, AND EVALUATIONS

"SEC. IT. (a) The Secretary may, by way of making contracts with Contracts or or grants to public or private organizations or agencies, undertake grants. research that will help improve the administration and effectiveness of 7 USC 2026. the food stamp program in delivering nutrition-related benefits. "(b)(1) The Secretary is authorized to conduct on a trial basis, in Pilot projects. one or more areas of the United States, pilot or experimental projects designed to test program changes that might increase the efficiency of the food stamp program and improve the delivery of food stamp benefits to eligible households, including projects involving the payment of the value of allotments in the form of cash to eligible households all of whose members are either age sixty-five or over or entitled to supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act, the use of countersigned food coupons or similar identifi- 42 USC 1381. cation mechanisms that do not invade a household's privacy, and the use of food checks or other voucher-type forms in place of food coupons. The Secretary may waive the requirements of this Act to the Waiver. degree necessary for such projects to be conducted, except that no project shall be implemented which would lower or further restrict the income or resource standards or benefit levels provided pursuant to sections 5 and 8 of this Act. "(2) The Secretary shall, jointly with the Secretary of Labor, imple- Pilot projects. ment two pilot projects involving the performance of work in return for food stamp benefits in each of the seven administrative regions of the Food and Nutrition Service of the Department of Agriculture, such projects to be (A) appropriately divided in each region between locations that are urban and rural in characteristics and among locations selected to provide a representative cross-section of politica] subdivisions in the States and (B) submitted for approval prior to project Submittal for implementation, together with the names of the agencies or organiza- approval to tions that will be engaged in such projects, to the Committee on Agri- congressional culture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on committees. Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. LTnder such pilot Eligibility. projects, any person who is subject to the work registration requirements pursuant to section 6(d) of this Act, and is a member of a household that does not have earned income equal to or exceeding the allotment to which the household is otherwise entitled pursuant to section 8(a) of this Act, shall be ineligible to participate in the food stamp program as a member of any household during any month in which such person refuses, after not being offered employment in the private sector of the economy for more than thirty days after the initial registration for employment referred to in section 6(d)(1)(i) of this Act, to accept an offer of employment from a political subdivision or a prime sponsor pursuant to the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 812), for which employment compensation shall be paid in the form of the allotment to which

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