Rachel Bleiweiss-Sande joined Mathematica’s Human Services unit in 2021. Her research focuses on federal nutrition assistance programs for children and youth, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and Child and Adult Food Program. She has also worked in the family support area, contributing to qualitative evaluations of Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) and Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) programming. She has expertise in analyzing the quality of diets and menus, analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and technical writing.
Bleiweiss-Sande has worked primarily on projects for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service. She is currently coordinating outreach and sampling of 25 state agencies for the Study of Nutrition and Wellness Quality in Child Care Settings-II to inform policymaking on nutrition and wellness in child care settings. She led an evaluation of policies and demonstrations associated with SNAP participation in older individuals, with a goal of increasing state uptake of policies to increase enrollment. In the family support area, she contributed to an evaluation of how HMRF grantees pivoted to virtual program delivery during COVID-19. She currently helps lead a qualitative study on strategies to address intimate partner violence in HMRE programs for individuals. Bleiweiss-Sande also supports an ongoing systematic review of home visiting research for the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) project to establish home visiting programs for at-risk pregnant women and children up to age 5. As part of this project, she is leading an update to the HomVEE Tribal Review, which focuses on the effectiveness of home visiting models in tribal populations.
Before joining Mathematica, Bleiweiss-Sande pursued a childhood dream of studying to become an architect, with the intention of designing affordable emergency housing. While volunteering at a community kitchen, she discovered a passion for promoting health through cooking, and eventually pivoted to a career in nutrition and public health. She holds a Ph.D. in nutrition from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutrition assistance programs for families with low income and young children help combat food and nutrition insecurity, but there is a history of under participation. This article explores strategies to reduce participation burdens and increase equitable access.
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