We have been asked whether to adopt for food stamp benefit purposes the $48.17 average cost for prescription drug purchases that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) calculated. The answer is yes, with some caveats. We have prepared two new Q&As to outline how this should work.
As described in our Reauthorization Implementation Memo SP 4, Categorical Eligibility for Free Lunches and Breakfasts of Runaway, Homeless, and Migrant Youth, runaway youth served through grant programs established under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act are now categorically eligible for free meals in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
While a great deal of breastfeeding promotion and support is happening in WIC at both the state and local levels, there has been no systematic effort to evaluate what might work best in the WIC setting. Within this context, FNS contracted for a breastfeeding intervention design study with the following goals: Identify interventions to increase the incidence, duration and intensity of breastfeeding among women participating in WIC; and design an evaluation plan to examine the implementation and effectiveness of these interventions.
This memorandum supplements our Reauthorization Implementation Memo SP 4 by providing additional information on identifying migrant children and on the procedures that school food authorities and local education agencies should use to coordinate with the Migrant Education Program in order to document the categorical eligibility of migrant children for free meals.
Section 107 of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 amended the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to make runaway, homeless and migrant children categorically eligible for free meal benefits under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and is effective July 1, 2004.
This final rule amends the WIC program regulations to incorporate two nondiscretionary funding provisions mandated by the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000.
We have received several inquiries regarding the collection of eligibility information during a Provision 2 or Provision 3 cycle.
The provisions in this interim rule include elimination of the following provisions: required provision of written information on certain other assistance programs; state agency timeframes for action on local agency applications for participation in the WIC program; annual evaluation of nutrition education and breastfeeding promotion efforts; and annual submission of a state plan.
The NSLP offers free and reduced-price school meals to students from eligible households. Households with incomes at or below 130 percent of poverty are eligible for free meals, and households with incomes between 131 percent and 185 percent of poverty are eligible for reduced-price meals. Traditionally, to receive these benefits, households had to complete and submit application forms to schools or be directly certified. Direct certification, on the other hand, is a method of eligibility determination that does not require families to complete school meal applications. Instead, school officials use documentation from the local or state welfare agency that indicates that a household participates in AFDC or food stamps as the basis for certifying students for free school meals.
This memorandum permits sponsors to consider children 18 years of age and younger who participate in the Job Training Partnership Act program as categorically eligible for the Summer Food Service Program.