School Nutrition Programs Eligibility
Each school year, local educational agencies (LEA) must determine and certify a student’s eligibility to qualify for free and reduced-price (F/RP) meals or free milk benefits.
This Web page contains School Nutrition Programs (SNP) eligibility information and policies for LEAs that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Afterschool Meal Supplements (Snack) under the NSLP, Special Milk Program (SMP), and State Meal Program.
LEAs must provide households with an application that allows them to apply for F/RP meals or free milk for all children in the household and cannot require the household to submit an application for each student within the same LEA. Also, LEAs cannot require a household to submit an application for F/RP meals or free milk if they choose to decline to participate in the program. LEAs are required to include the application and instructions with the letter to household and must distribute these materials near the beginning of each school year.
The SNP prototype eligibility materials comply with federal and state requirements that are monitored by the California Department of Education (CDE) during an SNP Administrative Review. There is no requirement to use the SNP eligibility materials, but LEAs should validate that their eligibility materials are in compliance with federal requirements from the USDA Eligibility Manual for School Meals; Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR), Part 245; and state requirements from California Education Code (EC) Section 49557.
- Income Eligibility Guidelines
- National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program
- Special Milk Program
- State Meal Program
- USDA Prototype Materials
- Application for F/RP Meals
- Application for F/RP with CalFresh Option
- Application for F/RP Meals: State Meal Program
- Application for the Free Milk
- Letter to Households and Instructions for F/RP Meals
- Letter to Households and Instructions for F/RP Meals with CalFresh Option
- Letter to Households and Instructions for Free Milk
- Media Release for F/RP Meals or Free Milk
- Direct Certification Notification Letters for F/RP Meals or Free Milk
- Notification Letter for F/RP Meals or Free Milk
- Verification Materials*
- School Year 2017–18 IEGs (DOC; Dated April-2017)
- Application for F/RP Meals (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Application for F/RP Meals (Dated Feb-2017) - Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions (Dated Feb-2017) - Nonpricing Letter to Household and Instructions (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Nonpricing Letter to Household and Instructions (Dated Feb-2017) - Public Media Release for F/RP Meals (DOC; Dated March-2017)
Available Translations of the Public Media Release for F/RP Meals (Dated March-2017) - Notification Letter for F/RP Meals (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Notification Letter for F/RP Meals (Dated Feb-2017) - Direct Certification Notification Letter for Free Meals (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Direct Certification Notification Letter for Free Meals (Dated Feb-2017) - Direct Certification Notification Letter for Reduced-price Meals (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Direct Certification Notification Letter for Reduced-price Meals (Dated Feb-2017) - Application for F/RP with CalFresh (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Application for F/RP with CalFresh (Dated Feb-2017) - Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions with CalFresh (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions with CalFresh (Dated Feb-2017) - Nonpricing Letter to Household and Instructions with CalFresh (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Nonpricing Letter to Household and Instructions with CalFresh (Dated Feb-2017) - Parental/Guardian Consent Form to Release F/RP Application to the CalFresh Program
- Application for Free Milk (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Application for Free Milk (Dated Feb-2017) - Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions for Free Milk (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions for Free Milk (Dated Feb-2017) - Public Media Release for Free Milk (DOC; Dated March-2017)
Available Translations of the Public Media Release for Free Milk (Dated March-2017) - Notification Letter for Free Milk (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Notification Letter for Free Milk (Dated Feb-2017) - Direct Certification Notification Letter for Free Milk (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available translations of the Direct Certification Notification Letter for Free Milk (Dated Feb-2017) - Application for F/RP Meals: State Meal (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Application for F/RP Meals: State Meal (Dated Feb-2017) - Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Pricing Letter to Household and Instructions: State Meal (Dated Feb-2017) - Public Media Release for F/RP Meals (DOC; Dated March-2017)
Available Translations of the Public Media Release for F/RP Meals (Dated March-2017) - Notification Letter for F/RP Meals (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Notification Letter for F/RP Meals (Dated Feb-2017) - Direct Certification Notification Letter for Free Meals (DOC; Dated Feb-2017)
Available Translations of the Direct Certification Notification Letter for Free Meals (Dated Feb-2017)
Eligibility Materials
The CDE offers the following prototype SNP eligibility materials:
*Review the SNP Verification Materials Web page for worksheets, forms, and other materials to assist with the annual, mandatory verification process that confirms the eligibility of a sample of approved household applications in the NSLP and SBP.
Income Eligibility Guidelines
Schools, agencies, institutions, and facilities participating in the NSLP, SBP, and SMP must use the Income Eligibility Guidelines (IEG) to qualify households for F/RP meals or free milk. The IEGs are based on the current federal poverty guidelines by total household size. For additional information, review Management Bulletin (MB) CNP-05-2017: 2017–18 Annual Income Eligibility Guidelines (May 2017).
Note: The IEGs from prior years are available on the CDE Rates, Eligibility Scales, & Funding Web page.
National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program
Sharing School Meal Applications with CalFresh (Assembly Bill 402)
LEAs may voluntarily implement a process to share information from the F/RP meal application with their local CalFresh office.
Special Milk Program
State Meal Program
USDA Prototype Materials
The USDA provides prototypes of F/RP eligibility materials for LEAs to use; however, the documents must be revised to comply with the California requirements. The USDA materials are available on the USDA School Meals Web page 
.
.
For additional information on the California requirements, review the Resources tab or MB SNP-18-2016: Eligibility Requirements for SNP (November 2016).
School Nutrition Programs Eligibility - School Nutrition (CA Dept of Education):
