The Community Eligibility Provision is a National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program meal service option that allows schools and school districts located in high poverty areas to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students.
A final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Community Eligibility Provision-Increasing Options for Schools (88 FR 65778), was published on Sept. 26, 2023, with an effective date of Oct. 26, 2023, that established the 25 percent minimum ISP threshold. As a result, more students, households, and schools have the opportunity to experience CEP’s benefits, such as increasing access to school meals at no cost, eliminating unpaid meal charges, minimizing stigma, and streamlining meal service operations.
Broad-based categorical eligibility is a policy that makes most households categorically eligible for SNAP because they qualify for a non-cash TANF or state maintenance of effort funded benefit.
Households with a child approved to receive free or reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program during the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year are eligible for the Federal Communication Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit. EBB is a federal program to help eligible families pay for internet service during the pandemic.
FNS is establishing a targeted waiver, for all states and local educational agencies, to extend statutory and regulatory deadlines relating to Community Eligibility Provision reporting and election during the public health emergency due to COVID–19.
FNS is establishing a nationwide waiver to support the Community Eligibility Provision while schools are responding to the novel coronavirus. The deadlines affected by this waiver include the CEP election, notification and reporting deadlines.
During an emergency situation such as the COVID-19 public health emergency, there are flexibilities available to TEFAP state agencies to assist them in continuing to provide food to people in need. Implementing TEFAP flexibilities can be achieved simply by submitting a written explanation (i.e., state plan amendment) to the FNS regional office for expedited review and approval.
This memorandum provides information on current flexibilities in distribution procedures that are available for state agencies that administer TEFAP.
In July 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published a proposed rule entitled “Revision of Categorical Eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)." This action closes a loophole that allows states to make participants in certain programs “categorically eligible” to participate in SNAP.
This memorandum reminds state and local program operators about a provision in the final rule effective on July 1, 2019, relating to free and reduced price eligibility for students transferring between LEAs during the school year.