This study was designed to understand the response of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Food Stamp Program (FSP) in southern Louisiana during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This study used portions of the PRECEDE/PROCEED model to develop the questions for the interviews and interpret the barriers and enabling and reinforcing factors with regard to changes in policy, budget, reporting, and program administration after the hurricanes. Information collected from this research seeks, not only to contribute to the literature on this topic, but to be made available to policymakers and program administrators to make informed decisions.
The effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in southern Louisiana were catastrophic. They were unusual in that the impact of the storms covered an extraordinary amount of the Gulf Coast region and an enormous amount of people were affected. In response to the catastrophe, two federally mandated food assistance programs, the NSLP and FSP, released a series of waivers, initiating a disaster program, which decreased eligibility requirements; therefore allowing more people affected by the hurricanes to access the benefits.
One-on-one interviews were conducted with regional, state, and local program administrators to understand the challenges and successes faces while implementing the disaster programs. The study participants were asked to participate based on their roles, responsibilities, and direct affect of either Hurricane Katrina, Rita, or both. Results of the study revealed the speedy response of the USDA and community support led to the success of the programs. The barriers that most administrators faced while trying to implement the programs were infrastructure damage, lack of communication due to power outage and loss of cellular service, and lack of commerce in the area. Overall, both programs were successful in their commitment to their underlying mission: increasing food access to those affected by the storms.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-11172006-115544 |
| Date | 20 November 2006 |
| Creators | Whelan, Emily Sashel |
| Contributors | Dr. Betsy Garrison, Dr. Annrose Guarino, Carol O'Neil, Dr. Michael Keenan |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11172006-115544/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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