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Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program Demonstration Projects to Evaluate Direct Certification with Medicaid

FNS is conducting additional demonstration projects to expand the evaluation of direct certification with Medicaid for both free and reduced price meal eligibility in NSLP and SBP.

11/09/2023
Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance IFMS Demos and Tutorials

The following videos are available to demonstrate functionality and provide tutorials for specific activities in IFMS. 

10/18/2023
Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance Integrated Food Management System (IFMS)

The Integrated Food Management System replaces the legacy, Automated Inventory System. IFMS consolidates food distribution transactions into a seamless, easy-to-use cloud-based platform.

10/11/2023
Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance USDA Secretary Vilsack Letter to States for SY 2022-23

Letter to states from the USDA Secretary to encourage you to help schools in your state keep kids fed despite ongoing challenges associated with the pandemic, ongoing supply chain issues, and labor shortages.

09/02/2022
Resource | Technical Assistance A Guide to Smart Snacks in School

A helpful resource for anyone managing school vending machines, fundraisers, or snack bars to better understand the smart snacks standards.

FNS-623
08/04/2022
Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance IFMS User Resources

Active IFMS users can access instructional materials, forms, and helpful references through the IFMS application. These materials are regularly updated to reflect the latest system changes with each release.

02/08/2022
Resource | Toolkits Tools for Schools: Focusing on Smart Snacks

A number of tools and resources are available to help schools identify food items that meet Smart Snacks criteria. See the resources below for information about the Smart Snacks requirement, helpful tools, and ways to encourage children to make healthier snack choices that give them the nutrition they need to grow and learn.

08/22/2019
Resource | Research | Assessing/Improving Operations Direct Certification in the National School Lunch Program Report to Congress: State Implementation Progress, SY 2015-16 and 2016-17

This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals.

11/07/2018
Basic page 2018 Direct Certification Improvement Grant Summaries

2018 Direct Certification Improvement grant project summaries.

05/15/2018
Resource | Policy Memos | FNS-GD-2017-0049 2018 Direct Certification Improvement Grant RFA

The fiscal year 2018 Direct Certification Improvement Grant Request for Applications are available to state agencies that administer the National School Lunch and the School Breakfast programs to fund the costs of improving your direct certification rates with SNAP, and other needs-based assistance programs.

SP41-2017
08/15/2017
Page updated: October 14, 2021