Resource Library

As more schools close as a result of COVID-19, a growing number of children are losing access to the school breakfasts and lunches that support their health and well-being. Advocates, school districts and out-of-school time program providers have an important role to play mitigating the impact on families who rely on free and reduced-price school meals to keep hunger at bay. School and community partners can leverage federal resources and work together to ensure access to nutritious meals during these school closures.

Here is a guide to ensuring access to the child nutrition programs
in the event of school closures.

On February 10, 2020, President Trump released his fiscal year (FY) 2021 budget proposal, which recycles many of the harmful proposals in the president’s previous budgets. In it, he proposes huge cuts to overall USDA funding and devastating cuts to SNAP and child nutrition programs. This analysis highlights areas of the budget that fund key anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs and how the proposed budget, if implemented, would harm the health and well-being of millions of people in our country.

DHS’ Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds final rule went into effect on February 24, 2020, and anti-hunger and nutrition stakeholders have important roles to play in providing basic facts about SNAP and other public benefit programs and in providing referrals to reliable legal resources on public charge questions. This FAQ provides information on the DHS public charge rule and how the rule intersects with the food security of immigrant families. This FAQ does not constitute legal advice or take the place of legal advice from an immigration attorney.

The Trump Administration’s new Department of Homeland Security public charge rule does not include receiving free or reduced-price school meals. The new rule directly impacts a relatively small group of people, but it is expected to have a broader “chilling effect” that will reduce the number of immigrant families applying for benefits, including school meals. This resource helps make sense of the landscape by answering key questions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently issued a proposed rule that would roll back important aspects of the current school meal nutrition standards and significantly unravel the progress made under the Healthy, hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

Congress has an important opportunity in 2020 to improve the health of millions of our nation’s children by passing a strong reauthorization that protects and strengthens the child nutrition programs. These successful, cost-effective federal nutrition programs play a critical role in helping children in low=income families achieve access to child care, education, and enrichment activities while improving overall nutrition, health, development, and academic achievement.

Resources for National School Breakfast Week, March 2–6, 2020.

Update for Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Stakeholders: Unpacking the Three Public Charge Rules seeks to provide anti-hunger and nutrition stakeholders with key updates on the status of public charge rules from three federal agencies — Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and Department of Justice — that intersect with federal nutrition programs, particularly the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and actions that stakeholders can take to assist immigrants.

FRAC’s communications toolkit helps you spread the word about the benefits of school breakfast and strategies for increasing participation. The toolkit includes the reports, the national news release, a model news release for states, sample social media, and graphics.

This report looks at school breakfast participation and policies in 76 large school districts across the country to evaluate successful practices in reaching more low-income children with school breakfast. This is a companion report to the School Breakfast Scorecard.

This annual report analyzes participation in the School Breakfast Program among low-income children nationally and in each state and the District of Columbia for the 2018–2019 school year. The report features best practices for increasing participation in the program, including breakfast after the bell models and community eligibility.

This table shows the mandate(s) requiring all or some schools to offer school breakfast and/or school lunch in each state and the District of Columbia. Information about additional state funding and other legislation are also included in this table.

The “Reimbursement Rates and Income Guidelines for the Federal Child Nutrition Programs” chart contains rates and income guidelines for:

School Meals and Afterschool Snacks (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020);

Summer Food Service Program (January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020);

Child and Adult Care Food Program (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020); and

Income Guidelines for the Child Nutrition Programs (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020).

This brief reviews the many benefits of the school meals programs, and summarizes the latest research on recent policy changes and innovative strategies that are increasing program access and improving student outcomes.

The School Hunger Elimination Act of 2019 (S. 2752), introduced by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), would make a number of improvements to the School Nutrition Programs, including increasing the number of low-income children who are directly certified to receive free school meals and bolstering community eligibility.