[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-588009-105":59,"doc-detail-588009-en":134},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":127,"head_meta":129,"extra_data":131,"updated_unix":133},105,"en","household-application-collection-a-research-brief-about-school-year-2022-2023","Household Application Collection - A research brief about school year 2022-2023","","The brief examines how U.S. school food authorities (SFAs) collect household applications to determine children’s eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals in school year 2022–2023. It reports the prevalence of collecting applications, compares paper-based versus electronic or web-based formats, and explains why SFAs in states with universal free school meal policies collect fewer applications. It also details USDA program administration and three eligibility pathways: income eligibility, categorical eligibility, and community eligibility (CEP), including the role of direct certification and administrative identification.",{"@graph":69,"@context":126},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/household-application-collection-a-research-brief-about-school-year-2022-2023/588009/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/household-application-collection-a-research-brief-about-school-year-2022-2023/588009.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Bintang","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118,122],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How many SFAs collected household applications in SY 2022–2023?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"In SY 2022–2023, 73% of SFAs collected household applications to determine children’s eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What formats did SFAs use for household applications?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"About half of SFAs used paper applications more than other formats, and about half used electronic or web-based applications, though only one-third used them more than other formats. Most SFAs manually reviewed and entered information from paper applications.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How do universal free school meal policies affect application collection?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"SFAs in states with universal free school meal policies were significantly less likely to collect household applications than SFAs in states without such policies (62% vs. 75%).",{"name":123,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":124},"What eligibility pathways are described for free and reduced-price meals?",{"text":125,"@type":113},"The brief outlines income eligibility, categorical eligibility (e.g., foster care, homelessness, Head Start, and SNAP-related participation), and community eligibility (CEP), which can allow schools to serve free meals without collecting household applications.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":128,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":130,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":132,"site_id":62},588009,1793114995,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":135},{"doc_id":132,"user_id":136,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":81,"language":143,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":144,"faqs":145,"seo_title":146,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":147,"read_time":39,"preview_page_count":4},962085564381,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Household Application Collection  \nA research brief about school year 2022–2023  \n\n| | • Three-quarters of school food authorities (SFAs) collected household applications to determine children’s eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals.\u003Cbr>• About half of SFAs used paper applications more than other formats, and onethird of SFAs used electronic or web-based applications more than other formats.\u003Cbr>• SFAs in States with universal free school meal policies were less likely to collect household applications than SFAs in States without such policies. |\n| --- | --- |\n\nThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to provide nutritious school meals to children. State agencies administer these programs in each State and Territory through agreements with local school food authorities (SFAs) . In school year (SY) 2022–2023, nearly 50 million children were enrolled in the public and nonprofit schools and residential child care institutions that ran the school meal programs (FNS 2023a) . 1  \nChildren from low-income households are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals. SFAs determine children’s eligibility in a few ways:  \n• Income eligibility: Children living in households with incomes at or below 130 percent of the Federal poverty level are eligible for free school meals, and children living in households with incomes between 130 and 185 percent of the Federal poverty level are eligible for reduced-price school meals (42 USC § 1758[b][1][A]) . 2 Households can apply for school meal benefits by providing information about household size and income. SFAs use the information to determine if children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals (7 CFR § 245.6) . 3 In SY 2022–2023, 7 percent of the 50 million children enrolled in institutions with school meal programs were eligible for free or reduced-price school meals based on household income information provided on applications (FNS 2023a) .1 In addition, most States participate in a demonstration project that allows SFAs to directly certify children for both free and reduced-price meals using household income data from Medicaid State agencies ( FNS 2025) .4  \n• Categorical eligibility: Children who are in foster care or are homeless, runaway, or migrant are categorically eligible for free school meals. Children are also categorically eligible for free school meals if they participate in Head Start or their household takes part in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Some children who are categorically eligible are identified using official records from programs such as SNAP (direct certification), and others are identified from information their households provide on applications for school meal benefits (7 CFR § 245.6) .3 In SY 2022–2023, 16 percent of the 50 million children enrolled in institutions with school meal programs were categorically eligible for free school meals (FNS 2023a) .1  \n• Community eligibility: The community eligibility provision (CEP) allows schools in low-income areas to serve free meals to all students without collecting household applications (7 CFR § 245.9) . 5 These schools are identified through administrative data. In SY 2022–2023, 40 percent of the 50 million children enrolled in institutions with school meal programs were eligible for free meals through CEP (FNS 2023a) .1 Another  \n1 percent of these children were eligible for free school meals because their schools elected other provisions ( FNS 2023b) .6  \n\n| 73%\u003Cbr>of SFAs collected household applications to determine children’s eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals. | 100\u003Cbr>75\u003Cbr>50\u003Cbr>25\u003Cbr>0 | 56%of SFAs used\u003Cbr>paper applications more than other formats\u003Cbr>33%of SFAs used electronic or web-based\u003Cbr>|\n| --- | --- | --- |\n\nWe asked a nationally ","cbCaijfu61rzLdSM","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijfu61rzLdSM","pdf",337384,"English","# Household Application Collection\n## Administration of School Meal Programs\n## How SFAs Determine Eligibility\n## Formats Used for Household Applications\n## Universal Free School Meals and Collection Behavior","[{\"question\":\"How many SFAs collected household applications in SY 2022–2023?\",\"answer\":\"In SY 2022–2023, 73% of SFAs collected household applications to determine children’s eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals.\"},{\"question\":\"What formats did SFAs use for household applications?\",\"answer\":\"About half of SFAs used paper applications more than other formats, and about half used electronic or web-based applications, though only one-third used them more than other formats. Most SFAs manually reviewed and entered information from paper applications.\"},{\"question\":\"How do universal free school meal policies affect application collection?\",\"answer\":\"SFAs in states with universal free school meal policies were significantly less likely to collect household applications than SFAs in states without such policies (62% vs. 75%).\"},{\"question\":\"What eligibility pathways are described for free and reduced-price meals?\",\"answer\":\"The brief outlines income eligibility, categorical eligibility (e.g., foster care, homelessness, Head Start, and SNAP-related participation), and community eligibility (CEP), which can allow schools to serve free meals without collecting household applications.\"}]","Household Application Collection - A research brief about school year 2022-2023 | PDF",1792064028]