Join USDA staff to learn more about new demonstrations to improve children’s health and nutrition by automatically enrolling children receiving Medicaid for free and reduced price school meals. On January 27, the USDA Food & Nutrition Service announced new demonstrations to evaluate direct certification for free and reduced price school meals using Medicaid data. The demonstrations will allow schools in selected States to use Medicaid eligibility data to identify eligible children and directly certify them for free and reduced price school meals, without a household application. State agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program, working with state Medicaid agencies, will have the chance to participate in the demonstrations as early as school year 2016-2017, with the first application period ending April 15, 2016. Applications for school year 2017-2018 are due on September 15, 2016. Follow this link to the request for applications and associated documents.

Check out FRAC's Medicaid Direct Certification Expansion one-pager (pdf) to learn more about the opportunity.