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Resource | Technical Assistance Community Eligibility Provision Resource Center

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) resource center provides extensive resources for parents, teachers, and school officials at the local, state and federal levels to better understand CEP and its benefits, along with useful tools to help facilitate successful implementation of the provision.

10/12/2023
Basic page Translated Model School Meals Application

This page features foreign language translations of the Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals. They are provided by USDA as a template to assist state and local agencies in serving households where English is not spoken as a primary language. Households may also download these resources directly to be filled out and submitted to their local school district.

08/10/2023
Resource | Technical Assistance School Meals Application Materials in Spanish

From this page, you may download the Spanish translation of the Prototype Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals and accompanying materials.

05/11/2023
Resource | Technical Assistance School Meals Model Application

USDA offers prototypes of school meal applications, as well as sample instructional documents intended to assist state and local officials in the design and distribution of their own application materials.

05/11/2023
Basic page SNAP E&T Policy and Guidance

FNS supports state flexibility in designing SNAP E&T programs that fit the needs of the local economy and SNAP participants. This page is specifically devoted to resources that states may use in developing and implementing E&T programs for SNAP participants.

05/09/2023
Basic page Income Eligibility Guidelines

The Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines (IEGs), are used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals or free milk.

02/09/2023
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations Feasibility of Wider Implementation of Direct Verification With Medicaid

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.

10/26/2010
Resource | Policy Memos Q&As on Extending Categorical Eligibility to Additional Children in a Household

This memorandum provides questions and answers relating to policy memorandum SP38 CACFP08 SFSP07-2009, Extending Categorical Eligibility to Additional Children in a Household, dated Aug. 27, 2009.

05/03/2010
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity NSLP/SBP Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study – Erroneous Payments in the NSLP and SBP

Program errors and the risk of erroneous payments in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) continue to be a concern. Slightly more than one in five students were certified inaccurately or erroneously denied benefits in school year (SY) 2005-06. New data estimates the gross cost of school meals erroneous payments due to certification error at about $935 million while other operational errors represent about $860 million. 

11/14/2007
Page updated: October 14, 2021