FNS Documents & Resources

FNS is issuing this memorandum in fulfillment of the commitment made in the preamble of the SNAP: Eligibility, Certification, and Employment and Training Provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 final rule to provide additional guidance for state agencies on how to carry out the exclusion of certain military combat-related pay from income for purposes of SNAP eligibility determinations.

Attached are revised Questions and Answers related to the final rule entitled, Certification of Compliance with Meal Requirements for the National School Lunch Program under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

FNS recently released the new Administrative Review Guidance Manual, which includes four options that state agencies may use to assess compliance with Dietary Specifications – calories, saturated fat, and sodium – requirements. 

This memorandum provides information regarding the state agencies’ quarterly reporting requirements associated with identifying the number of school food authorities certified to receive the performance-based reimbursement for each lunch served in compliance with the new meal pattern requirements for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.

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

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 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.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created the "Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund" for certain veterans and the spouses of veterans who served in the military of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II. SNAP will exclude these payments from income and resources when determining eligibility and allotments, and for all other purposes.

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.

Recently, we have received several questions regarding the operation of a school garden. Attached are questions and answers to address this issue. As in the past, please share this information with your school food authorities.