Programs using means tests to identify low-income households face a trade-off between promoting access and ensuring program integrity. The authors use a comparison-district design to estimate the effects of a pilot program to improve the accuracy of the process of certifying students for free or...

Over the years, concern has mounted that many of the more than 26 million children certified to receive free or reduced-price meals may be ineligible for these benefits. This brief looks at the issue of reducing payment errors in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast...

Millions of U.S. children participate in the National School Lunch Program each day, receiving free or reduced-price food that makes an important contribution to their overall nutrition. But concern has mounted that many approved as eligible may in fact be ineligible because their family income...

Erroneous payments in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs occur when school districts claim reimbursement at the free or reduced-price rate for meals served to students who are not eligible. They can also happen when schools don't claim reimbursement for children who have applied...

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...