FNS Documents & Resources

FNS is issuing this policy memo to clarify state options and requirements relating to the determination of fleeing felon status under Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regulations at 7 CFR 273.11(n).  

This memorandum outlines the requirements for CACFP institutions and facilities and Summer Food Service Program sponsors (program operators) to provide reasonable modifications to program meals or the meal service to accommodate children or adults (participants) with disabilities.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program  regulations at 7 CFR 273.11(n) require state agencies to choose between two tests to establish fleeing felon status: the four-part test and the alternative test, often called the Martinez test. This policy memo clarifies changes in the Martinez test necessitated by the Walter Barry, et al. v. Nick Lyon decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

This memo includes important updates to the requirements related to accommodating children and adults (participants) with disabilities receiving meals through the CACFP and the SFSP. This memorandum is the companion piece to SP 59-2016 “Modifications to Accommodate Disabilities in the School Meal Programs” published on Sept. 27, 2016.  

The memorandum that follows is intended to clarify the three ways in which FNS measures timeliness of initial SNAP application processing.  This memorandum does not represent new policy, but seeks to clarify the three existing data collection and monitoring procedures.

This memorandum addresses questions recently raised by state agencies regarding the FNS requirement to apply fiscal action school food authority-wide and assists state agencies in completing administrative reviews of SFAs in school year 2016-17. 

FNS has received many questions on the interim final rule implementing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training Program Monitoring, Oversight and Reporting Measures, published in the Federal Register on March 24, 2016. FNS released one Q&A in response to those questions on July 26, 2016. Since that time, FNS has received additional questions and is issuing this second Q&A to address them.

The attached questions and answers address the SNAP: Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 final rule. 

This memorandum, which was in effect from May 10, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018, outlined a transition period for implementing the updated CACFP meal patterns and the updated infant and preschool meal patterns in the national school lunch and school breakfast programs.

This is the 2017 Edition of Overcoming the Unpaid Meal Challenge: Proven Strategies from Our Nation’s Schools. This best practice guide is designed to support state agencies and local program operators in their efforts to find workable solutions to the challenge of unpaid meal charges.