Programs using means tests to identify low-income households face a trade-off between promoting access and ensuring program integrity. In the case of the National School Lunch Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently implemented a pilot program to improve the accuracy of the process...

This new four-page issue brief details two approaches to ensuring that free and reduced-price school meals go to eligible families. The brief finds that direct certification is useful in improving program access, although it could reach more eligible households. However, a pilot program that...

Available from Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis and Evaluation, Room 214, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302. (703) 305-2133.

Available from Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis and Evaluation, Room 214, 3101 Park Center Dr., Alexandria, VA 22302. (301) 305-2133.