This memorandum is a reminder to state agencies and local educational agencies that the statutory deadline to elect the Community Eligibility Provision for the following school year is June 30. This memorandum also provides a reminder of the annual CEP notification and publication requirements.

This memorandum provides the fiscal year 2026 income standards and maximum allotments for the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). State agencies may use these standards to determine eligibility for D-SNAP, as well as the maximum allotment for eligible households may receive based on their size.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance regarding onsite and offsite strategies and options for oversight and monitoring of the school meal programs.

FNS is committed to ensuring that all eligible individuals receive SNAP benefits. One policy area that impacts eligibility is the statutory and regulatory restrictions that apply to students enrolled in institutions of higher education (IHE). This memo serves to clarify two elements of longstanding SNAP policy: which individuals are considered enrolled in an IHE and, therefore, subject to the student eligibility rules, and which students are exempt from the SNAP work requirements. 

As we enter tax filing season this year, I ask you to encourage all SNAP applicants and recipients to file taxes. Even if a family did not earn enough to be required to file taxes, they are eligible for the CTC and potentially thousands of additional dollars in benefits. Filing taxes will mean many families who are eligible for CTC will also get thousands of dollars in additional tax relief through the Earned Income Tax Credit.

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.

This memorandum provides the FY 2020 Cost-of-Living Adjustments to the SNAP maximum allotments, income eligibility standards and deductions. COLAs are effective as of Oct. 1, 2019.

This memorandum addresses inquiries regarding flexibility in determining the effective date of eligibility for students who are directly certified to receive free meals or free milk in the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Special Milk Program.

This memorandum clarifies the flexibility available to local educational agency officials for establishing the effective date of eligibility for children certified for free or reduced price meals in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and free milk in the Special Milk Program based on household applications.

In February, 2013, FNS published final regulations revising the definition of trafficking. It subsequently came to our attention that some states were not clear that upon its effective date, federal law takes precedence and states were expected to implement the new federal trafficking definition.