Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program Demonstration Projects to Evaluate Direct Certification with Medicaid

FNS is conducting additional demonstration projects to expand the evaluation of direct certification with Medicaid for both free and reduced price meal eligibility in NSLP and SBP.

11/09/2023
Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance Community Eligibility Provision Resource Center

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!

10/12/2023
Basic page Certification of Compliance

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act initially provided an additional 6-cents per lunch reimbursement to school food authorities that were certified to be in compliance with the new meal patterns. The increased reimbursement, a significant investment in improving the quality of school meals, became available starting Oct.1, 2012. School food authorities that continue to maintain certification of compliance continue to receive this performance based funding which is adjusted annually if needed. The current performance based reimbursement rate is 8-cents per reimbursable lunch.

08/18/2023
Resource | Research | Assessing/Improving Operations USDA Direct Certification With Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price Meals Demonstration, SY 2019-20

This report examines the impact of using Medicaid data to directly certify students for free and reduced-price school meals in the NSLP and SBP in fifteen states in school year 2019-20. It assesses outcomes related to certification, participation, federal reimbursement, and state administrative costs in SY 2019-20 and over the course of the demonstration.

03/16/2022
Basic page CN Labeling Program

The USDA, child nutrition (CN) labeling program provides food manufacturers the option to include a standardized food crediting statement on their product label.

02/12/2021
Resource | Research | Assessing/Improving Operations Evaluation of the Direct Certification with Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price Meals Demonstration - Year 1

FNS conducted a study of the first two years of this demonstration to describe the implementation process and explore the effects on certification, participation, federal reimbursements, and state administrative costs. This report presents the findings from the first year of the demonstration evaluation, school year 2016–17.

08/30/2019
Resource | Technical Assistance & Guidance Demonstration Projects to End Childhood Hunger

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 added a new Section 23 on Childhood Hunger Research to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. This section provides substantial new mandatory funding to research the causes and consequences of childhood hunger and to test innovative strategies to end child hunger and food insecurity.

06/05/2019
Resource | FAQs/Q&As | FNS-GD-2019-0007 School Meals FAQs

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. 

02/27/2019
Resource | Research | Food Security Evaluation of Demonstration Projects to End Childhood Hunger (EDECH): Final Interim Evaluation Report

This study—authorized by the 2010 Child Nutrition Act—tests innovative strategies to end childhood hunger and food insecurity. 

02/08/2018
Resource | Notices Comment Request - Evaluation of the Direct Certification With Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price (DCM-F/RP) Meals Demonstrations

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.

02/24/2017
Page updated: October 14, 2021