FNS Documents & Resources

This memorandum provides revised policy guidance on certification periods pertaining to zero income households in FDPIR. FNS Handbook 501 provides that households who report zero income month after month must be asked as to how they sustain themselves and other household members.

Section 4 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act provides general cash for food assistance payments to states to assist schools in purchasing food. The NSLA provides two different section 4 payment levels for lunches served under the NSLP.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide questions and answers to help Indian Tribal Organizations and state agencies implement provisions of the final rule: Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations: Income Deductions & Resource Eligibility.

This document announces approval of an information collection requirements (ICR)  associated with the  final rule entitled Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations: Income Deductions and Resource Eligibility was published on Aug. 27, 2013.

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.

This rule proposes to amend the eligibility regulations for free and reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to codify the statutory provision that establishes the community eligibility provision, a reimbursement option for eligible local educational agencies and schools that wish to offer free school meals to all children in high poverty schools without collecting household applications.

This rulemaking establishes requirements to simplify and improve the administration of and expand access to the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations and the Food Distribution Program for Indian Households in Oklahoma, both of which are referred to as FDPIR in this rulemaking.

This notice corrects a table on page 17630 in the Federal Register issue of Friday, March 22, 2013.

This memorandum provides guidance on using school data when determining area eligibility for purposes of the child nutrition programs in instances where school attendance areas may not accurately reflect the population of the school for which eligibility data is being used. 

Recently, concerns have been raised about school district employees allegedly misrepresenting their incomes on applications to receive free or reduced price school meals for their children.