FNS Documents & Resources

School food authorities (SFAs) participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs are required to verify income for a small percentage of households approved for free or reduced price meals each school year. However, getting households to respond to verification requests can be challenging for SFA staff. If households do not respond, they lose their benefits regardless of their actual eligibility.

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.

The CACFP Sponsor and Provider Characteristics Study is focused on the child care component of the CACFP, which provides federal funds for meals and snacks served to children in public or private child care centers, Head Start programs, outside-school-hours care centers, afterschool care programs, emergency shelters, and day care homes. The study also covered centers that participate in the At-Risk Afterschool (At-Risk) component, which provides meals to children and youth through age 18.

This report presents estimates of participation rates for fiscal year (FY) 2016, comparing them to estimates of participation rates for FYs 2010 through 2015.

The Agriculture Act of 2014 authorized USDA to enter into cooperative agreements with State agencies to carry out pilot projects designed to raise employment, increase earnings, and reduce reliance on public assistance, including the benefits provided by SNAP

This toolkit is intended to clarify the SNAP recertification process, including by identifying ambiguous areas in the regulations and specified areas of state flexibility.

Authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, the USDA Pilot Project for Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables was designed to provide states with additional flexibility in the procurement of unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Participating states and school food authorities can purchase approved items with existing USDA Foods National School Lunch Program entitlement funds from any USDA Pilot-authorized vendor in support of the school meal standards.

This study—authorized by the 2010 Child Nutrition Act—tests innovative strategies to end childhood hunger and food insecurity. 

The 2010 Child Nutrition reauthorization provided funding to test innovative strategies to end childhood hunger and food insecurity.