This brief, part of NCHE's Best Practices in Interagency Collaboration series is designed for state and local child nutrition program administrators, cafeteria managers, State Coordinators for Homeless Education, and local homeless education liaisons. It explains the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child Nutrition Division (CND) policies regarding eligibility for free school meals for certain homeless, migrant, runaway, and foster students; addresses frequently asked questions about implementing these policies; and offers tools to ensure that these students can access food both inside and outside of school.

Feeding America seeks to create a hunger-free America. Feeding America distributes food and grocery products through a nationwide network of certified affiliates, increases public awareness of domestic hunger, and advocates for policies that benefit America's hungry. Enter your zipcode under "Find Your Local Programs" to find a food bank or food rescue program in your area. Also, explore the data gathered as part of Feeding America's Hunger in America 2010 initiative.

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is a leading national organization working to improve public policies to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States. Founded in 1970 as a public interest law firm, FRAC is a nonprofit and nonpartisan research and public policy center that serves as the hub of an anti-hunger network of thousands of individuals and agencies across the country.

This article, published in the October 2002 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, examines the independent contribution of child hunger on children’s physical and mental health and academic functioning, when controlling for a range of environmental, maternal, and child factors that have also been associated with poor outcomes among children.

The Sodexo Foundation, the charitable arm of Sodexo, Inc., is committed to being a driving and creative force that contributes to a hunger-free nation. The Sodexo Foundation's website includes hunger facts and information on Sodexo's local, state, national, and global hunger initiatives.

This policy brief from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. includes state and regional breakdowns and comparisons of state Food Stamp Program participation rates. Sixty-seven percent of those eligible for the program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), received benefits in 2006, a two percentage point increase from 2005. The participation rate for the working poor—people who qualify for program benefits and live in households in which someone earns income from a job—was 57 percent. The findings show that Missouri, Maine, and Tennessee likely had higher participation rates for all eligible people than most states. In contrast, California likely had a lower rate than most states. Among regions, the Midwest region had the highest participation rate at 74 percent, and the Western region had the lowest at 58 percent.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Data System website, sponsored by the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, provides time-series data on State and county-level estimates of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation and benefit levels, combined with area estimates of total population and the number of persons in poverty.

This webpage provides information about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) four domestic food assistance programs that exclusively or primarily serve the nutritional needs of children. The four programs covered are the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program.

This interim rule, effective beginning on June 24, 2011, amends the regulations affecting the determination of children’s eligibility for free meals under the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program by direct certification and categorical eligibility. The rule was open for public comment between April and October 2011, however remains in effect until a final rule is issued.
Download the interim rule.