FNS Documents & Resources

The CEP resource center provides extensive resources for parents, teachers, and school officials at the local, state and Federal level to better understand CEP and its positive benefits, along with useful tools to help facilitate successful implementation of the provision in your school!

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service and U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration partner to support able-bodied adults without dependents through the public workforce system as the Public Health Emergency ends.

This session focused on how subsidized work-based learning (SWBL) can be an important part of a SNAP E&T program. 

A webinar for state agencies and local program operators sharing proactive strategies to prevent and manage unpaid meal charges as schools return to standard counting and claiming in SY 2022-23.

School meals are required to meet specific nutrition standards to operate the school meals programs. The standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science and the real world circumstances of America’s schools. 

The goal of the school meal programs is to provide nutritious meals to children during the school day. Children may receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to them if they are categorically eligible for free meals or if they qualify for free meals based on federal poverty guidelines. Sometimes, however, children who do not qualify based on these standards would like a breakfast or lunch, but do not have money in their account or in-hand to cover the cost of the meal at the time of the meal service.

No later than July 1, 2017, all school food authorities (SFAs) operating National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Program must have a written policy in place to address situations where children participating at the reduced price or paid rate do not have money to cover the cost of a meal at the time of the meal service. SFAs have discretion in developing the specifics of their policies, and FNS expects charge policies will vary based on local circumstances and available resources. This webinar provides an overview of the local charge policy requirement and shares best practices for successful policy development.

This question and answer memorandum is designed to provide an overview of policies related to unpaid meal charges and to address common questions FNS has received from state agencies, school food authorities, and local program operators.