Data & Research
This data collection fulfills states’ reporting requirements and describes trends in program participation during the COVID-19 pandemic from July 2020 through Dec. 2021. It is part of an ongoing study series examining CN program operations, repurposed to collect waiver reports from all states. A previous report in the series detailed waiver usage and trends in program participation and operations from March through Sept. 2020.
This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2021 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percents of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category.
The Summer Food Service Program Integrity Study was designed to improve understanding of how state agencies provide oversight of the SFSP. To address the research objectives, the study examined such areas as sponsor and site selection, training and technical assistance, meal counting and claiming, and reviews. The findings, based on data collected in 2021, also offered some preliminary responses about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SFSP operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted school meal operations and has contributed to lasting supply chain issues affecting the cost and availability of food and labor. The School Food Authority Survey II on Supply Chain Disruption and Student Participation was administered to all SFAs operating child nutrition programs in schools to gather information on the impacts of continued supply chain disruptions and the return to standard operations during SY 2022–23.
This data collection fulfills states’ reporting requirements and describes trends in program participation during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is part of an ongoing study series examining CN program operations, repurposed to collect waiver reports from all states.
The physical presence waiver, issued under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, allowed WIC state and local agencies to remotely certify participants into WIC during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report summarizes data collected from surveys of WIC state and local agencies about the use of the physical presence waiver and the impact it had on WIC services.
Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, the USDA FNS issued certain programmatic waivers to state agencies to support continued access to WIC services and provide flexibilities to some administrative requirements. This brief report summarizes findings about the use and impact of these waivers from surveys of WIC state and local agencies.
This preliminary report summarizes key changes, improvements, and challenges to WC operations as delivered under the physical presence and remote benefit issuance waivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings represent a first, high-level look at survey data collected from state and local WIC agencies to fulfill reporting requirements for waivers issued under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
The Child Nutrition Program Operations Study is a multiyear study series that provides the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service with current information on National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program policies, practices, and needs from state agencies and school food authorities. Specifically, it covers policies related to school nutrition service operations, financial management, meal counting, eligibility, nutrition standards, and personnel. Results inform child nutrition program management and policy development. This study in the series covers school year 2017–18.
This Community Eligibility Provision Characteristics study is the first comprehensive study since CEP became available nationwide in SY 2014-15. The study was designed to provide USDA with information about the impact of CEP and includes both an implementation and impact component.