USDA sponsored the NSLP Application/Verification Pilot Projects to test ways to improve the process for certifying students for free or reduced-price meals. This report presents findings on the impacts of two alternatives to the current application-based certification process - Up-Front Documentation and Graduated Verification - that were tested in 12 public school districts over a three-year period.
This report presents the results of a case study of verification in 21 large metropolitan SFAs around the country. The study examined outcomes of the verification process and made an independent assessment of income eligibility of households with specific verification outcomes using data from in-person interviews with families.
In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 USC 552(a), FNS is giving notice that it proposes to establish a new system of records: USDA/FNS–11, entitled Information on Persons Identified as Responsible for Serious Deficiencies, Proposed for Disqualification, or Disqualified to Participate as Principals or Family Day Care Home Operators in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Questions and Answers Related to the Guidance on Medicare-approved Drug Discount Card
This memorandum is to reiterate and clarify current policy governing intentional program violations as set forth in the Food Stamp Program regulations.
The head of household may not be held "automatically" responsible for trafficking the household's benefits if there is no direct evidence identifying him/her as the guilty party. However, OGC was also supportive of holding the head of household responsible when there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to show his/her complicity in the violative act.
FNS Form AD-1049 is the USDA Certification Regarding Drug-Free Work Place Requirements (GRANTS) Alternative I - For Grantees Other than Individuals
This document summarizes the preliminary findings of two projects being completed by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. on the subject of certification accuracy in the National School Lunch Program: Evaluation of the National School Lunch Program Application/Verification Pilot Projects: Findings on Deterrence, Barriers and Accuracy, and Case Study of Verification Outcomes in Large Metropolitan Areas.
From July to September 2002, FNS reviewed the free and reduced price eligibility determination process (i.e., application, verification, reapplication, meal ticket status) for each of 3,474 applications selected for verification in 14 large school food authorities in the 2001-02 school year. These SFAs enroll nearly one million children, among whom 45 percent were approved for free meals and 7 percent were approved for reduced price meals as of Oct. 31, 2001.
Food stamps are intended for food. When individuals sell their benefits for cash it violates the spirit and intent of the Food Stamp Program as well as the law. This practice, known as trafficking, diverts food stamp benefits away from their purpose. It reduces intended nutritional assistance and undermines public perceptions of the integrity and utility of the program. To combat trafficking, the Food and Nutrition Service conducts undercover investigations of authorized food stores. In addition, the agency has developed powerful new EBT-based administrative tools to identify and sanction traffickers.