One in five kids in the US are food insecure, meaning they don’t always know where their next meal is coming from. (Source: Feeding America) That’s why child nutrition programs like school meals and WIC make so much sense.
We've seen some exciting progress around school meals in recent years, as the Healthy Hungry-Free Kids Act has ushered in new thinking - and standards - around what makes a healthy school day. Now we have an important opportunity to ensure that *all* kids who need and/or are likely to need access to healthy and subsidized school foods are able to access them: Community Eligibility.
Here’s how it works:
- The CEP enables high-poverty schools to offer a healthy breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students attending the school, without the paperwork typically required to participate in the school meal program.
- Any school with at least 40% “identified” students can participate. “Identified” students are those eligible for free meals due to their family’s participation in SNAP, TANF or other federal nutrition assistance programs. According to FRAC, schools that typically have at least 75% students participating in free or reduced-price meal programs will be eligible.
The program has been rolling out in select states since the 2011-12 school year, and became available nationwide in 2014-15. Currently more than 6 million kids at 14,000 schools in 2200 school districts are participating. Wowza! (that’s 1 in 10 schools nationwide). (Source: FRAC)
Makes sense, right? CEP lessens administrative work for schools, and ensures that kids who really need assistance are receiving it. And early data shows that schools implementing the CEP had higher rates of breakfast and lunch participation. For example in Detroit, lunch participation went up 30%. (Source: FRAC)
Eligible school districts have until August 31 to decide if they want to implement CEP. Even though the program has a proven track record, many districts have adopted a wait-and-see approach. Here are some easy ways to give them an extra nudge:
- Check out which schools and districts in your state are eligible using the Center for Budget and Policy Priority’s database.
- Reach out to districts in your area and encourage them to enroll in CEP if they’re eligible. FRAC and CBPP have pulled together a great toolkit for advocates with sample language, stats and more.
And be sure to join our #FoodFri tweet chat with FRAC on August 21 to discuss Community Eligibility and ways to get involved! Together, we have the power to ensure as many kids as possible are receiving the healthy food they need.
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