Office of School Nutrition Julie Griffith, MPH, RD

Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)National School Lunch (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) Office of School Nutrition Julie Griffith, MPH, RD

Objectives Offer an overview of the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Identify eligibility requirements Provide information on SY 2014-2015 implementation timelines Common Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs 2

The Link Between Nutrition and Education When a child’s nutritional needs are met, the child is more attentive in class and has better attendance and fewer disciplinary problems USDA research indicates that children who participate in the NSLP and SBP have superior nutritional intakes compared to those who bring lunch from home or otherwise do not participate Low-income children who eat school breakfast have a better overall diet quality than those who eat breakfast elsewhere or skip breakfast 3

What is the CEP? • Statutory requirement from the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 • Provides an alternative to household applications in the NSLP and SBP • Intent is to improve access to free school meals for high-poverty schools • Eliminates burden of collecting household applications • CEP is designed to be easy for a school or district to adopt 4

General Facts 5

Definitions • Enrolled students • Those students who are enrolled in and attending schools participating in the CEP and who have access to at least one meal service daily • Identified students • Those students who are certified for free meals NOT through individual household applications • SNAP • Homeless/Runaway • Migrant • Foster • Head Start/Even Start • Non-applicant students approved by LEA officials 6

Definitions • Identified student percentage (ISP) • The percentage determined by dividing the number of identified students by the number of enrolled students and multiplying by a factor of 1.6 • Eligible SFAs/Schools • SFAs/Schools with an ISP of at least 40% • Potentially eligible SFAs/School • Schools with an ISP of at least 30% but less than 40% 7

How does CEP work? • ISP = # of identified students/# of enrolled students x 100 • Multiply by a factor of 1.6 • Result  Percentage of total meals served at the federal free rate • Remaining percentage of total meals is reimbursed at the federal paid rate Example: Identified Students = 250 Enrolled Students = 500 250/500 x 100 = 50% 50% x 1.6 = 80% = free 20% = paid 8

Meal Reimbursements with CEP The reimbursement rate for both lunch and breakfast is determined by multiplying the percentage of Identified Students by a 1.6 multiplier. The resulting number is the percentage of meals reimbursed at the “free” reimbursement rate, with the rest being reimbursed at the “paid” rate. 9

Notification Requirements • April 15th of each year • SFAs must supply the State Agency (SA) with a list of schools • Identified student percentage of at least 40% • Identified student percentage greater than 30% but less than 40% • May 1st of each year • State must publish a list • Identified student percentage of at least 40% • Identified student percentage greater than 30% but less than 40% • LEAs that are currently electing CEP 10

SY14-15 Implementation Timeline 11

Other Factors • Each year of the 4-year cycle, SFAs or schools may use the identified student percentage from the first year, or the updated identified student percentage, whichever is higher • SFAs are required to submit a CEP Request Form no later than June 30th to begin CEP • SFAs choosing CEP must pay the difference between the cost of serving lunches and breakfasts at no charge to all participating children and the Federal reimbursement for free meals • Funds must be from non-Federal sources • Example: Revenue from a la carte sales 12

Potential Implementation Issues • Impacts of the absence of student level poverty data used to distribute other assistance funding • No reporting of October 1 Free and Reduced data • Potential redistribution of school-level Title I funds; CEP does not impact the total amount of Title I, only the distribution • Need for alternative data for state and local funding formulas • The process of obtaining socioeconomic data from students from sources other than NSLP and SBP • E-rate discount level determination 13

FAQ: What impact will CEP have on other school nutrition programs? • Other school nutrition programs will be able to utilize the percentage of free meals to determine their eligibility. • Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) • Seamless Summer Option (SSO) • Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) • Afterschool Care Snack Program (ACSP) 14

FAQ: How will the meal claiming process work? • For CEP schools, the SFA will need to consolidate daily total reimbursable meal counts into monthly totals by site for breakfast and for lunch • The claiming system will use the SFA’s approved percentages for free and paid to automatically calculate the numbers of free and paid reimbursable meals for breakfast and lunch • Be sure to maintain proper documentation for meal counts for review purposes 15

FAQ: What paperwork is required? • List of total enrolled students with access to NSLP and SBP as of April 1, 2014 • List of identified students with access to NSLP and SBP as of April 1, 2014 • Direct certification match results • Documentation for extended eligibility to additional children in a household with directly certified students • Lists of homeless, migrant, runaway, Head Start, Even Start, foster (on a list from the county), and students determined eligible by the appropriate authority figure • Documents to support daily and monthly meal counts 16

FAQ: Is Verification required with CEP? • CEP schools do NOT have to complete the verification process • Will still need to complete the Verification Collection Report annually • SFAs with only some of their schools in CEP will have to complete verification for the schools not operating under the CEP 17

Office of School Nutrition Julie Griffith, MPH, RD