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The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs are operated locally by school food authorities (SFAs), usually a part of the local school district. SFAs are reimbursed at nationally set rates for the cost of meals served to participating students. Previous USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) analysis found substantial variation in total costs across SFAs but did not identify the sources of those cost differences. This report examines food cost differences, using a large national sample of SFAs to examine how food purchase costs vary by SFA location, characteristics, and purchasing practices. Results show that food costs dropped with the volume of products purchased. Food costs also varied considerably across location--SFAs in the Northern Plains and Mountain regions had higher average food costs, and SFAs in the Southeast regions had the lowest food costs for major food groups. SFA purchasing practices also affected costs. Purchasing cooperatives, a popular strategy among SFAs, had mixed associations with food costs, possibly because SFAs may use them not only to reduce costs, but also for aims such as obtaining wider access to desired food products.

This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Direct certification is a process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications. The 2004 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act required LEAs to establish systems to directly certify children from households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by school year (SY) 2008-2009. This report presents information on the outcomes of direct certification for SY 2015-2016 and SY 2016-2017. [For the SY 2014-2015 report, see ED616764.]

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Lunch Program allows high-poverty schools to provide USDA school meals at no charge to all of their students. USDA reimbursement for meals is simplified by making use of routinely collected administrative data, such as participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), rather than collecting school meal applications. Schools and districts with at least 40 percent of enrolled students identified as participating in these assistance programs through the administrative data--also known as the Identified Student Percentage, or ISP--are eligible to participate in the CEP. This report examines the characteristics of school districts that participated in the CEP in school year 2015-16--with participation defined as CEP being implemented in at least one eligible school in the district--using administrative data from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, the National Center for Education Statistics, and State education agencies, where available. The highest school-level ISP in the district was found to be significantly associated with CEP participation, holding other factors constant, although the association varied for different sized districts. Participation also varied significantly by region and length of time since CEP became available.

Nutrition insecurity, reflected by poor nutrition, limited physical activity, unsafe food practices, and food insecurity, is a significant national health concern. Poor health disproportionately affects minority and low-income populations. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is the nation's first nutrition education program for low-income populations and remains at the forefront of nutrition education efforts to reduce nutrition insecurity of low-income families and youth today. Funded by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), EFNEP uses education to support program participants' efforts toward self-sufficiency and nutritional health and well-being. EFNEP also combines hands on learning, applied science, and program data to improve program effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability. Collectively, 76 land-grant institutions deliver EFNEP through Cooperative Extension. EFNEP operates within the larger context of existing non-profit, public, and federal nutrition education programs. EFNEP reaches an average of over 500,000 low-income adults and youth in rural and urban communities each year. EFNEP trains peer educators to teach low-income families to develop healthier behaviors. Peer educators help families understand and apply credible and practical nutrition information. Annual data consistently indicates that more than 90 percent of adult EFNEP participants report improved behaviors following program involvement. Although research is limited, there is some evidence that improved behaviors are sustained. This report provides statistical information on the following topics: (1) Reaching Low Income Families; (2) Reaching Diverse Populations; (3) Saving Money/Improving Diets; and (4) Changing Adult Behavior/Influencing Youth.

Education is closely linked with economic outcomes. This report highlights key trends in educational attainment among rural Americans and the relationship between educational attainment and economic prosperity for rural people and places. Rural Americans are increasingly educated, but gains in educational attainment vary across demographic groups. Rural women are increasingly more highly educated than rural men, and educational attainment among rural Whites is higher than that of racial and ethnic minorities in rural areas. Compared with urban areas, rural areas are lagging in the share of adults with college degrees. Urban areas continue to offer employment and earnings advantages (relative to rural areas) for workers with college degrees. For rural counties, low educational attainment is closely related to higher poverty and child poverty rates as well as higher unemployment rates.

This report responds to the legislative requirement of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-234) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify certain children for free school meals without the need for household applications. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (WIC is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) required all LEAs to establish, by school year (SY) 2008-2009, a system of direct certification of children from households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) requires that States meet certain direct certification performance targets. Beginning in SY 2013-2014, States that fail to achieve a direct certification rate of at least 95 percent are required to develop and implement continuous improvement plans. Ninety-five percent of LEAs that participate in the NSLP directly certified some SNAP participants and other categorically eligible students in SY 2014-2015. These LEAs enroll 99 percent of all students in schools that participate in the NSLP. This is an increase from SY 2004-2005, when 56 percent of LEAs, enrolling 77 percent of all students in NSLP schools, directly certified some categorically eligible students. The number of school-age SNAP participants directly certified for free school meals, including those in schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and those in other special provision schools in a non-base year, was 13.8 million for SY 2014-2015, an increase of 3.8 percent from SY 2013-2014. This is the second year the methodology for calculating the direct certification performance rate made use of data elements collected in the Verification Collection Report (FNS-742) and the Direct Certification Rate Data Element Report (FNS-834). Therefore, direct certification performance rates presented in this report are not directly comparable to those in reports from prior years. The results of the analysis in this report indicate that 91 percent of children in SNAP households were directly certified for free school meals. Twenty-four States achieved the HHFKA-mandated performance target of 95 percent, and no States had a direct certification rate lower than 60 percent. [For the summary report, see ED616765. For the SY 2013-2014 report, see ED616761.]

The nation's Land-Grant University Cooperative Extension System (LGU-CES) is committed to ensuring that low-income populations have a safe, affordable, and healthy food supply. Two low-income nutrition education programs that are core to this commitment are the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed), which are funded by United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), respectively. Leadership from the CES Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) requested the assistance of NIFA to facilitate improved alignment and visibility of EFNEP and SNAP-Ed within the LGU-CES, given the importance of both programs to their organizational mission and the health needs of the country's low-income populations. NIFA's Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition issued a special project competitive award to develop recommendations for system-wide alignment of these programs. The University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources received the award and convened an expert working group with regional and programmatic diversity to participate in the national meeting and help develop the scan and recommendations. At the senior agency and organizational leadership meeting, LGU-CES representatives identified potential strategies for aligning program quality and effectiveness within five areas of focus: advocacy, communication, messaging, research, and evaluation. This report shows what is working well and what may be done to strengthen and improve EFNEP and SNAP-Ed at the university level and by Cooperative Extension as a total system. Suggestions are also given for the potential role of ECOP leadership and what federal partners might do to strengthen low-income nutrition education programming. The report is divided into two sections: (1) Project Recommendations, which contain suggestions for aligning and elevating nutrition education programs for low-income audiences within the LGU-CES; and (2) Project Strategies and Findings, which describe the approaches used and insights gained upon which the recommendations are based. The following are appended: (1) Coordination and Cooperation Considerations; (2) Recommendations for ECOP Leadership and Federal Agencies; (3) Align and Elevate Working Group Members; and (4) Environmental Scan Quantitative Data.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) identified a need for a comprehensive set of best practices in nutrition education for low-income audiences for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) educational projects, including SNAP-Ed. A comprehensive list of best practices would promote consistency and efficacy in program planning, implementation, and evaluation. In addition, the use of best practices increases confidence that education efforts will result in positive nutrition and health-related behavior changes. Colorado State University (CSU) researchers were charged with identifying best practices, and then involved an expert panel. Seven panel members were chosen based on their experience with nutrition education of low-income populations as program leaders, program implementers, and researchers at universities and public health organizations. Best practices were also substantiated from a review of the research literature. Twenty-eight best practices within five domains were identified, recognizing that nutrition education is most effective when delivered through multiple levels of the Social-Ecological Model. These best practices are appropriate for both direct and indirect delivery of nutrition education to both adult and youth audiences. The expert panel also identified potential data sources to be used by nutrition educators to determine if and to what extent their programs are including best practices. Links to resources are also included for additional information and self-study. In addition to resources, case studies of selected low-income nutrition education programs are included as real-world examples of planning, implementing, and evaluating specific best practices. This resource can be used as a self-assessment tool to identify both program strengths and areas for improvement to better align programs with best practices. Additionally, this resource may serve as a guide for future educator training topics, or as a tool for strategic and long-term program planning. As more programs successfully implement and use these best practices, fidelity and efficacy of nutrition education improves. Best practices are not limited for use by program leaders, but may also be used by managers and outside evaluators at local, state, and national levels, state SNAP agencies, FNS at a regional and national level, and other low-income nutrition education programs.

This report responds to the legislative requirement of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L.110-234) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local education agencies (LEAs) to certify certain children for free school meals without the need for household applications. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 required all LEAs to establish, by school year (SY) 2008-2009, a system of direct certification of children from households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) requires that States meet certain direct certification performance targets. For SY 2013-2014, States that fail to achieve a direct certification rate of at least 95 percent are required to develop and implement continuous improvement plans. The performance target will remain at 95 percent in future years. Ninety-three percent of LEAs that participate in the NSLP directly certified some SNAP participants and other categorically eligible students in SY 2013-2014. These LEAs enroll 99 percent of all students in schools that participate in the NSLP. This is an increase from SY 2004- 2005, when 56 percent of LEAs, enrolling 77 percent of all students in NSLP schools, directly certified some categorically eligible students. The number of school-age SNAP participants directly certified for free school meals was 12.4 million for SY 2013-2014, an increase of 1 percent from SY 2012-2013. This year the methodology for calculating the direct certification performance rate was refined in order to make use of new data elements collected in the revised Verification Collection Report (FNS-742) and the new Direct Certification Rate Data Element Report (FNS-834). Therefore, direct certification performance rates presented in this report are not directly comparable to those in reports from prior years. The results of the analysis in this report indicate that 87 percent of children in SNAP households were directly certified for free school meals. Twelve States achieved the HHFKA-mandated performance target of 95 percent, and no States had a direct certification rate lower than 60 percent. [For the summary report, see ED616759. For the SY 2012-2013 report, see ED616756.]

Section 104(a) of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 made the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) available to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and schools in high poverty areas. Under the CEP, families are not required to submit applications for free or reduced-price meals, and schools must provide free lunch and breakfast to all students. Schools are reimbursed for meals using a formula based on the percentage of students identified as eligible without an application (the identified student percentage, or ISP), using direct certification, and other lists of eligible students. LEAs must cover all costs of these meals in excess of Federal reimbursement with non-Federal funds. The potential benefits are to increase low-income students' access to nutritious meals, and to reduce the administrative burden of LEAs' experience with the school meals programs. The phase-in of the CEP has followed a schedule specified by the HHFKA. The CEP will be available nationwide to all eligible LEAs and schools in school year 2014-15. As mandated by the HHFKA, the CEP Evaluation examined the implementation and impacts of the new framework for providing free meals to all students in high-poverty schools. The overall purpose of the evaluation was to obtain a better understanding of: (1) The acceptability of the Community Eligibility Provision to LEAs; (2) The incentives and barriers for LEAs adopting the provision; (3) Operational issues that State agencies encounter in administrating this provision; and (4) Implications and impacts of opting for this provision. This addendum contains descriptive findings on CEP eligibility and participation for all 11 States where the program has been phased in to date, and updates several of the descriptive results published in the final report. The study design included an implementation study and an impact study in the first seven CEP States. For the implementation study, the evaluation team collected State administrative data on the characteristics of all LEAs and schools. Four factors were significantly associated with CEP participation by LEAs: ISP; enrollment; State; and charter status. The findings address two research objectives posed in the Congressional mandate for the Implementation Study: (1) Estimate the number of eligible LEAs and schools that have not chosen to participate in the CEP; and (2) Describe the LEAs and schools participating in the CEP. The following is appended: LEA and School Characteristics by State.

This report responds to the legislative requirement of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L.110-246) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify certain children for free school meals without the need for household applications. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 required all LEAs to establish, by school year (SY) 2008-2009, a system of direct certification of children from households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The mandate was phased in over three years. The largest LEAs were required to establish direct certification systems by SY 2006-2007; all were required to directly certify SNAP participants by SY 2008-2009. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) requires that States meet certain direct certification performance targets. For SY 2012-2013, States that fail to achieve a direct certification rate of at least 90 percent are required to develop and implement continuous improvement plans (CIPs). The performance target increases to 95 percent for SY 2013-2014 and beyond. Ninety-one percent of LEAs that participate in the NSLP directly certified some SNAP participants in SY 2012-2013. These LEAs enroll 99 percent of all students in schools that participate in the NSLP. This is an increase from SY 2004-2005, when 56 percent of LEAs, enrolling 77 percent of all students in NSLP schools, directly certified some SNAP-participant students. The number of school-age SNAP participants directly certified for free school meals was 12.3 million for SY 2012-2013, an increase of 6 percent from SY 2011-2012. Analysis in this report estimates that 89 percent of children in SNAP households were directly certified for free school meals, which is 3 percentage points higher than last year's rate of 86 percent. Twenty-four States achieved the HHFKA-mandated performance target of 90 percent, and 16 States achieved direct certification rates of at least 95 percent. Only one State had a direct certification rate lower than 60 percent. [For the summary report, see ED616757. For the SY 2011-2012 report, see ED616745.]

This report responds to the legislative requirement of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L.110-246) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Direct certification is a process conducted by the States and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify certain children for free school meals without the need for household applications. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 required all LEAs to establish, by school year (SY) 2008-2009, a system of direct certification of children from households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The mandate was phased in over three years. The largest LEAs were required to establish direct certification systems by SY 2006-2007; all were required to directly certify SNAP participants by SY 2008-2009. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) requires that States meet certain direct certification performance targets. For SY 2011-2012, States that fail to achieve a direct certification rate of at least 80 percent are required to develop and implement continuous improvement plans (CIPs). The performance target increases to 90 percent for SY 2012-2013 and 95 percent for SY 2013-2014 and beyond. Eighty-nine percent of LEAs that participate in the NSLP directly certified some SNAP participants in SY 2011-2012. These LEAs enroll 98 percent of all students in schools that participate in the NSLP. This is an increase from SY 2004-2005, when 56 percent of LEAs, enrolling 77 percent of all students in NSLP schools, directly certified some SNAP-participant students. The number of school-age SNAP participants directly certified for free school meals was 11.6 million for SY 2011-2012, an increase of 17 percent from SY 2010-2011. Analysis in this report estimates that 86 percent of children in SNAP households were directly certified for free school meals, substantially higher than last year's rate of 77 percent. Thirty-six States achieved the HHFKA-mandated performance target of 80 percent, and 17 States achieved direct certification rates of at least 90 percent. Only one State had a direct certification rate lower than 60 percent. [This report was submitted to the Food and Nutrition Service's Office of Research and Analysis. For the summary report, see ED616746.]