
Public Comment on Expanding Community Eligibility Provision
View this testimony as a PDF here. On behalf of Every Texan, we appreciate the opportunity to comment on the USDA’s Proposed Rule on Child
“...the percentage of meals that were claimed as free were a lot higher than when we were in Provision 2.”
Rio Grande City CSD
Direct certification is a federally mandated electronic data-matching process that determines the eligibility for free school meals based on student participation in other need-based programs.
Schools have the chance to boost participation in school meal programs, feeding more kids more efficiently through the use of direct certification.
Students are eligible for school meals through direct certification if they meet any of these criteria:
Direct certification helps students from low-income families who are at a higher risk for hunger. All directly certified students get free school breakfast and lunch. Students who have access to better nutrition tend to perform better academically. Efficient direct certification can allow schools to feed more kids healthy food, ease the burden on low-income parents, and improve focus and learning for all students.
Direct certification is also an efficient process for families and the school meals system. When a student is directly certified, schools no longer have to collect meal applications from parents. This saves parents and school administrators time and allows for a uniform and efficient method for eligibility determinations. Direct certification makes school meals processes less burdensome for schools, parents, and students, and it also helps capture eligible students who may have been “missed” or unidentified under the meal application system.
Districts that have improved their direct certification rates have been able to spend less effort on collecting applications while increasing their school food revenue. They can use the added revenue to pay staff, buy equipment, or improve food quality.
Director, Health & Food Justice
Food Policy Analyst, Health & Food Justice
View this testimony as a PDF here. On behalf of Every Texan, we appreciate the opportunity to comment on the USDA’s Proposed Rule on Child
The U.S. House and Senate recently passed a debt ceiling and budget package, negotiated by President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy, to avoid defaulting on
View this testimony as a PDF here. Every Texan supports HB 1287 by Guillen, as it will reduce hunger in Texas by updating the state’s
On May 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to access more than $1 billion in food