Research

Abstract: Work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) participating in public benefit programs have long been a hot-button topic and are particularly relevant following the recent passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which expands SNAP’s ABAWD work requirement. This paper leverages counties’ staggered reinstatement of SNAP work requirements following the Great Recession to estimate their causal impact on household SNAP participation and individual labor supply using a heterogeneity-robust difference-in-difference estimator. Using ten years of data from the American Community Survey, I identify a statistically significant reduction in SNAP receipt for the full sample of ABAWDs, without corresponding changes in extensive or intensive measures of labor supply. Subgroup analyses suggest heterogeneous effects and reveal particularly large declines in receipt among older ABAWDs and those with dependent adult-children, while veterans exhibit modest increases in labor supply. These results point to potentially substantial implications of OBBBA’s work requirement expansion for benefit access and limited expected gains in labor supply among affected groups. Presented at: APPAM 2024; APPAM 2025

Abstract: Despite recent investigations into veterans’ use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), there is limited understanding of whether veterans are differentially impacted by SNAP policy changes. This paper examines the late-2013 expiration of an across-the-board increase in SNAP benefits to estimate how benefit reductions differentially impact veterans and non-veterans. We leverage long-standing state-level policy-induced variation in the take-up of SNAP benefits to implement a continuous difference-in-differences research design, where “dosage” is defined according to the state policy environment. We find that non-service-disabled veterans households experience a larger effect on participation and average benefit amounts relative to non-veteran households, and that effects are more pronounced in states with more accommodating SNAP policies. We identify a somewhat different pattern for service-disabled veteran households, who have access to VA Disability Compensation. These households are observed to experience a similar large effect on average benefit amounts only in states with more accommodating SNAP policies. Unlike those without service-connected disabilities, service-disabled veteran households do not appear to change their SNAP participation behaviors following the benefit cut in either state policy environment.

 Presented at: APPAM 2025

Abstract: There is increasing concern about the mental health and well-being of adolescents. School Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are one strategy for addressing students’ physical and mental health needs, improving education experiences by making physical and mental healthcare more accessible to school-aged children. While there is some evidence of a correlation between SBHCs and higher attendance, access to mental health services, and improved mental health outcomes, there are a limited number of large-scale and rigorous studies that have examined SBHC impacts. This paper provides some of the first causal evidence on the impacts of SBHC openings on adolescent well-being in California. Leveraging the openings of over two hundred SBHCs in California between 2007 and 2023, we examined impacts of student access to SBHCs on student mental health, substance use, and school attendance using a difference-in-differences design. We find that opening a SBHC leads to lower rates of self-reported depression and substance-use for 11th graders, and lower rates of absence due to illness or mental health concerns for both 9th and 11th graders. When we focus on SBHCs offering mental health services, we also find a lower rate of reported suicidality among 11th graders.

Presented at: APPAM 2025; ASHEcon 2025

Abstract: We used the National Survey of Children’s Health (2016-2022) to examine the relationship between perceived racial discrimination (caregiver-reported child exposure) and two outcomes: a child’s receipt of a dental visit and the presence of any oral health problem in the past year. We estimated logistic regression models, stratified by race-ethnicity (Black, Hispanic, White), and adjusted for SES using family poverty level (FPL). We also interacted perceived racial discrimination and FPL to observe how associations differ by SES.  Perceived racial discrimination was associated with lower rates of dental visits for White and Hispanic children, with no significant association for Black children. Perceived discrimination was associated with a higher likelihood of having an oral health problem for all three racial-ethnic groups. In models that interacted perceived discrimination and FPL, there were inconsistent associations with dental visits. The association between perceived discrimination and having an oral health problem in the past year was primarily isolated to the lowest SES strata (<200% FPL), with higher likelihoods of having an oral health problem for all three racial-ethnic groups among those who experienced discrimination.