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.
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will discontinue the requirement for vendors to use high security seals to secure USDA Foods deliveries as of July 1, 2023.
Pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a state residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at "nutritional risk" by a health professional.
FNS has estimated the number of new discretionary exemptions each state has earned for FY 2023. States that operated under a statewide waiver of the ABAWD time limit did not earn any new exemptions.
FNS has estimated the number of new discretionary exemptions each state has earned for FY 2022. States that operated under a statewide waiver of the ABAWD time limit did not earn any new exemptions.
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.
On April 30, 2021, FNS issued a memo that SNAP Quality Control will resume nationwide starting July 2021, with special QC review procedures related to COVID-related adjustments, and provides state agencies with a blanket waiver regarding the QC face-to-face interview.
The Child Tax Credit, part of the American Rescue Plan, significantly expands the child tax credit for 2021 and will be issued to families in monthly payments, beginning in July. These credits do not count as income for purposes of determining eligibility for WIC. For more detailed information on the Child Tax Credit, please go to childtaxcredit.gov.
This memorandum provides information on the exclusion as income of rebates under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 in FDPIR, TEFAP, and CSFP.
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.