FNS Documents & Resources

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 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.

The purpose of this memorandum is to implement a provision affecting mandatory direct certification for children in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households.

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.

This memorandum provides questions and answers relating to policy memorandum SP38 CACFP08 SFSP07-2009, Extending Categorical Eligibility to Additional Children in a Household, dated Aug. 27, 2009.

This is a reminder of the statutory and regulatory requirements for categorical eligibility for the Child Nutrition Programs based on receipt of benefits from each state’s Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act restricts categorical eligibility to those TANF programs with standards that are comparable to or more restrictive than those in effect on June 1, 1995.

It has come to our attention that there is uncertainty in determining when an income eligibility form has expired and when it needs to be excluded from claiming percentage calculations for CACFP.

This memorandum modifies the policy related to categorical eligibility for free meals or free milk for children who are members of a household receiving assistance under SNAP, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations or the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program.