Rebecca, director of economic assistance quality control for North Dakota, told the Cass County Human Service Advisory Board on Nov. (date not specified) that the federal payment-error target for SNAP is 6% or less and that North Dakota’s midyear payment-error rate was 10.2.

"For our payment error rate, it has to be 6% or less," Rebecca said. She explained that the federal partners measure payment error, case and procedural error (KDPR), and timeliness and that those metrics drive corrective actions and potential federal escalation.

Why it matters: HR 1 (referred to in the meeting as the "1 big beautiful bill") changed federal requirements and, under a sliding scale discussed in Rebecca’s presentation, states with error rates above 6% could be required to pay a portion of SNAP benefits. Rebecca described the sliding scale presented by USDA: states in the 6.00–7.99% range could be required to pay 5% of benefits issued; 8.00–9.99% could be assessed 10%; and 10% or higher could be assessed 15% of the benefits. She noted North Dakota’s midyear rate places it in the highest bracket discussed.

The presentation summarized program scale and common drivers of error: the state serves roughly 28,000 households in SNAP, with an average household benefit of about $360 per month and total SNAP issuance just over $10 million per month (figures reported by Rebecca). Rebecca said errors arise both from agency application or policy mistakes and from client-side reporting failures (missed household updates, unreported income or household composition changes). She emphasized that quality-control reviews do not measure fraud or trafficking, which are separate enforcement functions.

Process and compliance details: Rebecca outlined the two-tier federal QC process. Quality-control reviews begin at the state level using guidance in the FNS-310 handbook and are later re-reviewed by federal reviewers via SNAP QCS. She said North Dakota currently uses the minimal sampling plan (rather than the standard sample) because of team size and that when a payment error of $1 or greater is identified, the state issues an SFN 512 notification and follows a corrective-action plan.

Timeliness and escalation: Rebecca said statutory timeliness is 30 calendar days for regular applications and seven calendar days for expedited applications. She said FNS requires a 95% timeliness rate; the agency measures application processing time (APT) and has placed North Dakota in step 3 of a five-step escalation process, which requires a 5% improvement in APT every six months or further sanctions may follow.

State response and mitigation efforts: Rebecca described targeted measures to reduce errors, including ‘‘heat visits’’ (on-site targeted training) in high-error zones, a full rewrite of the SNAP policy manual, expanded supervisor and worker trainings, data-driven QC tools and vendor consultations to error-proof common case types. She said state staff have added interview checklists, screen prompts for likely data omissions and other workflow changes intended to reduce preventable errors.

Budgetary effects: Board members asked about administrative cost sharing and other funding changes under HR 1. Rebecca said administrative cost sharing would change from a 50/50 split to a 75/25 split beginning in 2026 and reiterated that the payment-error exposure would be a state cost obligation under the HR 1 sliding scale rather than an immediate federal ‘‘cut.’n

Ending: Rebecca provided contact information and promised follow-up training and guidance as federal QC teams finalize implementation. The board did not take formal policy action during the presentation.