FNS Documents & Resources

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This memorandum has been superseded by SP10 CACFP04 SFSP03-2015: Area Eligibility in Child Nutrition Programs.

This memorandum has been superseded by SP 10-2015, CACFP 04, SFSP 03-2015: Area Eligibility in Child Nutrition Programs.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance regarding the use of census data for area eligibility determinations in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). This memorandum has been superseded by SP 10-2015, CACFP 04, SFSP 03-2015: Area Eligibility in Child Nutrition Programs.

This memorandum provides guidance and clarification regarding individual income eligibility determinations and durations in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

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.

Section 9(b)(12)(A)(i) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act restricts categorical eligibility for free school meals based on SNAP participation to children who are members of a household receiving assistance under SNAP. Therefore, a child who is a member of a household that is receiving “zero benefits” from SNAP is not categorically eligible for free meals, unless the child is categorically eligible for another reason.

This memorandum is to provide guidance on the verification process and reporting for categorically eligible foster children

This memorandum provides information relating to section 205 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. This provision requires school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program to ensure that schools are providing the same level of support for lunches served to students who are not eligible for free or reduced price lunches (i.e., paid lunches) as they are for lunches served to students eligible for free lunches.

This supersedes the Jan. 7, 2010, version of the policy memo, Exclusion of Military Combat Pay. In addition to combat pay and other income received by deployed service members, this memorandum addresses Deployment Extension Incentive Pay.