The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program was launched as an effort to address the loss of access to free and reduced-price school meals due to widespread school closures at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools reopened in a shifting mix of fully virtual, hybrid, and in-person formats and families lacked consistent access…

Purpose/Objectives: The goal of this study was to explore unique issues that rural school nutrition professionals face in operating successful school meal programs, and their strategies for overcoming those barriers. Methods: This study was conducted through 10 key informant interviews and three focus groups with rural school nutrition…

This report is the forth in the series of evaluations of the National School Lunch Program. The findings presented here are the result of an analysis of pilot project operations and costs for two alternatives to the current application-based certification process--Up-Front Documentation and Graduated Verification--that were tested in 12 public…

This report, the fifth in a serious of reports about the evaluation of the National School Lunch Program focuses on issues relating to applications for free or reduced-price meals. In particular, it presents (1) an impact analysis of the effects of the pilot policies on the number of applications submitted, and (2) a descriptive analysis of the…

The Special Summer Food Service Program for Children is one of several programs for the feeding of children administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The program is designed to feed during summer vacation, children from areas having poor economic conditions or high concentrations of working mothers. It is authorized through fiscal year…