Direct Certification for the Federal Free School Lunch Program

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

Through collaboration between the County Department of Social Services, State office of Temporary Disability Assistance, State Department of Education and local school districts, Suffolk County created a program to directly certify children for the Federal Free School Lunch Program within the county. The program eliminates the need for families receiving Food Stamps and Temporary Assistance to apply for and document their eligibility for free school lunches. The program also has a secondary benefit of increasing revenue for district food programs and reducing administrative processing for program applications. In late 2008, Suffolk initiated an inter-government pilot program with Sachem School District in Holbrook, New York to increase the number of students using the Federal Free School Lunch program for both breakfast and lunch services by directly certifying eligible students for the program. The experiment resulted in 30 additional students in the district now receiving free lunches without parents needing to fill out an application or providing any additional documentation. Pleased with the successful outcome of the pilot, the County Executive and Commissioner of Social Services have now broadened the assessment program to the county’s nearly 350 public schools and more than 250,000 students. Nineteen of the school districts within Suffolk County reported a range of new participation from 1 to 473 additional students. In total, 1,153 students were added to the Federal Free School Lunch List as a direct result of this program. Of districts reporting results, the average increased participation in each district is 58 students.