Direct certification simplifies the process of certifying certain children for free school meals by eliminating the need for households to apply. The 2004 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act required all local educations agencies (LEAs) to establish a system of direct certification by...

This study investigated factors that influence students’ participation in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs using recent data from a large, nationally representative sample of students certified for free and reduced-price meals during the 2005–2006 school year. Whether...

This report to Congress assesses the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals without the need for household applications by using data from other means-tested programs. At the start of the 2010-2011 school year, 1.9 million more children were...

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the oldest food assistance program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutrition safety net. Strategies for improving the diets of NSLP participants are crucial for meeting children’s nutritional needs, fostering healthy eating habits, and...

The study found that more than 85 percent of schools offered reimbursable lunches that met USDA standards for key target nutrients—protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron—but none of the schools served lunches that met the sodium benchmark, and only one in three served...