Data & Research
To ensure program integrity, school districts must sample household applications certified for free or reduced-price meals, contact the households, and verify eligibility. This process (known as household verification) can be burdensome for both school officials and households. Direct verification uses information from certain other means-tested programs to verify eligibility without contacting applicants. Potential benefits include: less burden for households, less work for school officials, and fewer students with school meal benefits terminated because of nonresponse to verification requests.
WIC Participant and Program Characteristics summarizes the demographic characteristics of WIC participants nationwide in April 2008, along with information on participant income and nutrition risk characteristics, a national estimate of breastfeeding initiation for WIC infants, and a description of WIC members of migrant farmworker families.