FNS Documents & Resources

This request for approval of information collection is necessary to obtain input into the development of nutrition education interventions for population groups served by FNS. Collection of this information will increase FNS' ability to formulate nutrition education interventions that resonate with the intended target population, particularly low-income families.

In school year 2013-14, FNS introduced the unified administrative review and a 3-year review cycle. Since then, FNS has received feedback about the difficulties of the shorter review cycle, both for the state agencies conducting the reviews, and for school food authorities preparing for and responding to reviews.

The purpose of this Request for Information is to help FNS gather feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders on how FNS' crediting system can best address today's evolving food and nutrition environment, as well as to offer first-rate customer service to those operating and benefitting from the child nutrition programs.

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.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection. This is a new collection for the Evaluation of the Direct Certification with Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price Meals Demonstrations.

FNS invites state agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to apply to participate in demonstration projects that will evaluate the effectiveness of conducting direct certification with the Medicaid program.

The attached Q&As are issued in follow-up to Policy Memorandum SP 50-2013, Release of the new state agency Direct Certification Rate Data Element Report.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, as amended by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010  require that children living in households receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program be directly certified for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program and/or the School Breakfast Program.

This rule proposes to amend NSLP regulations to incorporate provisions of the Healthy, Hunger- Free Kids Act of 2010 designed to encourage states to improve direct certification efforts with SNAP.

The interim rule, Direct Certification and Certification of Homeless, Migrant and Runaway Children for Free School Meals, was published on April 25, 2011. One of the provisions in this rule concerns the frequency of direct certification matching activities with the SNAP and is effective July 1, 2011.