Building a SNAP E&T Program County by County 

North Carolina’s vision for its SNAP E&T program, called the Food and Nutrition Services Employment and Training program (FNS E&T), is “Strengthening families and communities by creating opportunities that lead to living-wage jobs for sustainable success.” North Carolina operates a State-supervised, county-administered SNAP E&T program, meaning that many program functions are the responsibility of the 100 counties within the State and supervised by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Division of Social Services (DSS). 

North Carolina operates a voluntary E&T program in thirteen counties, utilizing a combination of 100 percent and 50% Reimbursable SNAP E&T funds. As of federal fiscal year, 2019, NC has established nine third-party partnerships with several in the pipeline for FFY 2020. Some of the state’s largest partnering agencies are NC Community College Systems Office, Goodwill of Southern Piedmont and Green Opportunities, a culinary training program in Buncombe County. As we look forward to next year we will be adding Goodwill of Northwest NC as well as Goodwill of Central NC as partners covering more than 33 counties in western North Carolina.  

North Carolina prioritized the development of a sustainable 50-50 reimbursement program and piloting it in its active counties as well as a number of new counties. The State’s larger goals include:

  • Acquiring a case management system explicitly for employment and training in order to expand the program statewide;
  • Ensuring that current and onboarding counties offer viable work activities such as on-the-job training, work experience and apprenticeship programs;
  • Transitioning from the county-by-county approach by building a network of E&T partners; and
  • Continuing the partnership with the community college system while continuing to connect with community-based organizations and employers to support a more job-driven E&T program.

North Carolina is excited about the future of its E&T program. The State is planning for steady growth, while working to ensure that it has the infrastructure and systems in place to adequately support this growth and minimize setbacks.