Progress 04/01/15 to 03/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience was Yolo County CalFresh recipients Changes/Problems:We had planned to tie the financial incentive to the client's EBT card; however, after discussions with the state, this would not be possible. They were in the process of and RFP for a different vendor and could not make any changes to the EBT cards. This was a major change in our approach. We decided to use a secondary card for the incentive. This approach required an extra verification when paying to verify that the clients were SNAP clients. It would be better to tie the incentive to the EBT card. This is something we will look at if we continue the program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results will be communicated with the retailers, County leadership, local jurisdictions and community partners through presentations andemail correspondence. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Increase purchase of fruits and vegetables by Yolo County SNAP participants: Bonus Buck recipients increased their purchase of fruits and vegetables by 16.6% during the course of the pilot program. This data looked at the items in repeat customer's shopping carts before and after implementation of the Bonus Bucks program. Maximize the share of funds used for direct incentives to participant: XX% of grant funds were spent on participant's financial incentive. An estimated 2,877 Yolo County SNAP recipients received a Bonus Bucks incentive. Test innovative or promising strategies that would contribute to our understanding of how best to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by SNAP participants, to inform future efforts: The strategoy we employed was very innovative ans is a great example for other communities who wish to provide a similar incentive. I have personally met or spoke with nine other organizations accross the county who are interested in implementing a similar project. I am sharing our process, what worked and lessons learned. The sharing of information is invaluable and I hope other organizations and jurisdictions can use our pilot as a guide for implementing their own financial incentive project. Operate in underserved communities: Each retailer was located in or near an underserved community. We re strategic in the retailers we chose. We did not implement the pilot program in higher served or higher socioeconomic communities. Prior to identifying retailers, we made sure that retailers in food desert areas, underserved areas and low socioeconomic area were the priority. We succeeded in this effort. Goal 2: Provide retailersthe technological capacity and training to implement the Yolo Bonus Bucks program:Cashiers and management were trained on the Bonus Bucks process and rules. IT departments from theretailersworked together to come up with a strategy for giving and processing theincentives that worked for all involved. Support was provided to all retailer's IT departments for this effort. Develop innovative or improved benefit redemption systems that could be replicated or scaled: The strategoy we employed was very innovative ans is a great example for other communities who wish to provide a similar incentive. I have personally met or spoke with nine other organizations accross the county who are interested in implementing a similar project. I am sharing our process, what worked and lessons learned. The sharing of information is invaluable and I hope other organizations and jurisdictions can use our pilot as a guide for implementing their own financial incentive project. Operate in underserved communities: Each retailer was located in or near an underserved community. We re strategic in the retailers we chose. We did not implement the pilot program in higher served or higher socioeconomic communities. Prior to identifying retailers, we made sure that retailers in food desert areas, underserved areas and low socioeconomic area were the priority. We succeeded in this effort. Goal 3: Market Yolo Bonus Bucks program to targeted audience: A number of marketing strategies were employed to communicate the pilot program to the targeting audience, including direct mailers, posters, fliers, handouts, Countywide press release and news coverage. Use direct-to-consumer sales marketing: Direct mailers we sent to all 8,854 Yolo County SNAP recipients. Retailers marketing the program by hanging posters and handing out fliers. Local non-profit organizations and community partners provided outreach and distributed fliers and pamphlets with information about the program. Operate in underserved communities: Each retailer was located in or near an underserved community. We re strategic in the retailers we chose. We did not implement the pilot program in higher served or higher socioeconomic communities. Prior to identifying retailers, we made sure that retailers in food desert areas, underserved areas and low socioeconomic area were the priority. We succeeded in this effort.
Publications
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