FNS Documents & Resources

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 SNAP E&T Plan Handbook provides guidance to state agencies administering and operating the SNAP E&T program on how to prepare and submit their annual plan to FNS for approval.

This policy memo provides guidance on implementing subsidized wages in work-based learned activities in SNAP E&T.

The purpose of this Toolkit is to provide state agencies with guidance and resources to plan and implement Employment and Training (E&T) Programs under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp Program). 

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.

This memo provides guidance on the use of SNAP E&T funds to pay for services for individuals who are attending high school. In most cases, it is likely neither legal nor appropriate to use E&T funds to pay for services for individuals are attending high school. In some instances, however, it is allowed and encouraged to use E&T funds for individuals who are of high school age, such as for individuals aged 16-17 who are subject to SNAP work requirements.

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.

Our team at USDA has been relentless in notifying, educating, and equipping you to engage more SNAP participants as they transition to work. Some of you have been proactive leaders in improving your E&T program. However, not all states have taken action. Today, I call on you to leverage the opportunity afforded to us by the longest economic expansion in U.S. history to get to work on getting people to work.

The SNAP Employment and Training program, administered by all 53 state agencies, helps participants gain the skills, training, or work experience they need to enter, reenter, or remain in the workforce. The program is flexible. State agencies can tailor services and supports to the needs of SNAP participants and the communities in which they live.