FNS Documents & Resources

A webinar for state agency and school food authority staff focused on the community eligibility provision. 

The Community Eligibility Provision is a National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program meal service option that allows schools and school districts located in high poverty areas to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students.

A final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Community Eligibility Provision-Increasing Options for Schools (88 FR 65778), was published on Sept. 26, 2023, with an effective date of Oct. 26, 2023, that established the 25 percent minimum ISP threshold.  As a result, more students, households, and schools have the opportunity to experience CEP’s benefits, such as increasing access to school meals at no cost, eliminating unpaid meal charges, minimizing stigma, and streamlining meal service operations.

Discover MyPlate includes seven emergent readers featuring kindergarten-level sight words that help children build literacy skills while learning about the five food groups and MyPlate.

The FNS Food Safety division develops education, instruction and technical assistance resources for individuals working in federally funded nutrition assistance programs such as the NSLP, SBP, CACFP, and SFSP. Many of these resources are created in partnership with the Institute of Child Nutrition.

USDA is committed to providing nutrition assistance to hard-hit families across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. In support of President Biden’s call to action on hunger, USDA announced that it is increasing the Pandemic EBT benefit by approximately 15 percent, providing more money for low-income families and millions of children missing meals due to school and child care closures.

This map contains links to state-specific information on local educational agencies and schools that may be eligible to elect the Community Eligibility Provision.

The USDA Foods Nutrition Education Resource Library provides program-specific, nutrition education resources for FDPIR administering agencies.

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!

A webinar for state agency and school food authority staff focused on the Final Rule: Child Nutrition Programs Community Eligibility Provision — Increasing Options for Schools.