USDA Launches Program To Test Impact Of "Direct Certification" For Free School Meals

Schools in six states will use Medicaid data to enroll eligible low-income students in federal meal program; results reported to Congress
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vislack announced today that six states will participate in a pilot program designed to study whether or not "direct certification" makes it easier for children to receive federally funded school meals. During the demonstration projects, run in partnership with USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, eligible low-income children in schools in Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania will automatically receive free school meals based on information recorded with Medicaid. The pilots begin on July 1, for the 2012-2013 school year. The Food and Nutrition Service will conduct a formal study to evaluate the effectiveness of the projects, and the results will be published in reports to Congress in 2014 and 2015.

Using Medicaid data to enroll students in the school meal programs will help USDA "streamline operations, reduce payment errors and improve the efficiency of operations at the federal and local level," Sec. Vilsack said.

"At the same time we are ensuring that we deliver healthy meals to more eligible kids so that they have access to the nutrition they need to learn and excel."

The pilot projects are possible thanks to the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the legislative centerpiece of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign. The passage of the Act "marks the first time that states have been allowed to test" the impact of direct certification, USDA said. The First Lady and Sec. Vilsack unveiled USDA's new nutrition standards for school meals in January. A second set of guidelines, for foods sold in a la carte and vending machines in schools, has not yet been released. These will be released soon, Vilsack said today, during a Senate hearing.

Kentucky and Pennsylvania plan to conduct statewide demonstration projects, while the other states will run their programs "in select locations."

USDA study will estimate the following impacts and report these results to Congress:

*The extent to which direct certification for each demonstration category reaches children who are eligible for free school meals but are not certified to receive them

*The extent to which the projects directly certify eligible children who are enrolled for free school meals based on a household application

*The effect direct certification with the Medicaid program has on federal and state costs, and on participation in the school lunch and breakfast programs.

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Related: Download USDA's Final Nutrition Standard 2012 for School Meals [PDF]; Download Implementation Timeline [PDF]; Download Before And After School Lunch Menu [PDF]