View Research by Author - Walter Hillabrant

Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/WalterHillabrant

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides low-income households with electronic benefits to purchase food in grocery stores. People residing on Indian reservations, and households with American Indians and Alaska Natives residing near reservations, or in certain areas of Oklahoma, may have a food assistance option besides SNAP-the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), which provides a monthly package of commodities. This report combines findings from site visits to seven reservations that participate in FDPIR with analysis of administrative and survey data to compare the two programs with regard to eligibility, participation, administration, and possible effects on health.

American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages have embraced the goals, objectives, and programs associated with welfare reform, but the lack of jobs threatens the success of tribal programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Welfare-to-Work (WtW). Recognizing the scope and importance of this problem, the federal government has promoted business and economic development (BD/ED) in Indian country. This report describes (1) examples of BD/ED activities and the federal programs and initiatives utilized by a convenience sample of eight tribes and two Alaska Native corporations; (2) the legal, historical, and cultural context of tribal BD/ED; and (3) the challenges tribes/Native corporations face in pursuing BD/ED, as well as the promising approaches they are developing to minimize or overcome them.

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