When summer nears, hundreds of thousands of kids in Washington can face three months without free meals provided by their schools.

“There’s this huge gap, and it affects learning,” Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said.

But starting this summer, a new federal program will help lower-income families who rely on free school breakfasts and lunches.

is similar to a program that helped feed families during the pandemic. With a push from Murray, a permanent version of the program was approved federally in 2022 and is set to launch in Washington this summer, thanks to some new funding from the state Legislature.

It will provide families with a $120 preloaded card usable at grocery stores and farmers markets. The cards will be issued to families between mid-June and the end of August, but the exact dates that a child may receive their benefits will vary, according to state officials.

Children whose families are up to 185% of the federal poverty line – – can qualify. about 550,000 kids in Washington will be eligible.

Most of the funding comes from the federal government. But during this year’s session, the state Legislature set aside $12 million over the next two years to fund a portion of the program. The plan for the state program, which will be run by the Department of Social and Health Services and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, was approved by the federal government last week.

Most children who already receive , Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits, or a free or reduced school lunch are automatically eligible for the program and won’t need to reapply, said Norah West, spokesperson for the Department of Social and Health Services.

West encouraged families who are eligible but have not applied for free or reduced school meals to do so before the end of the school year if they want access to the summer program.

Families who do not qualify for the other programs can still apply for the summer assistance. Details will be released in the coming weeks on how to do that.

West said exact dates for when children will get their benefits will be released soon, and families should check the state’s regularly to learn more.

Once a family is approved, they will get the card within seven to 10 days. Unused benefits will expire 122 days after they are issued.

The summer program is just a piece of a broader conversation lawmakers are having about ensuring kids get enough to eat. State legislators have tried in recent years to provide free school meals for all children, but proposals to do so have failed.

On a federal level, Murray said she is continuing to raise awareness about the broader effects of nutrition on children’s learning abilities and well-being.

“The stress on families is incredible,” Murray told the Standard in February. “It just seems to me that in the United States of America, that’s something that our families should not have to worry about.”

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School meals are critical to child health. Research has shown that than meals from other sources, such as meals brought from home.

A recent study that one of us conducted found the quality of school meals has steadily improved, especially since the 2010 strengthened nutrition standards for school meals. In fact, by 2017, another study found that school meals provided the of any major U.S. food source.

Many American families became familiar with universal free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. To ease the financial and logistical burdens of the pandemic on families and schools, the that allowed schools nationwide to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. However, these by the 2022-23 school year.

Since that time, there has been a substantial increase in schools participating in the , a federal policy that allows schools in high poverty areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all attending students. The policy became available as an option for low-income schools nationwide in 2014 and was part of the . By the 2022-23 school year, had adopted the Community Eligibility Provision, an increase of more than 20% over the prior year.

We are study the health effects of nutrition-related policies, particularly those that alleviate poverty. Our newly published research found that the Community Eligibility Provision was associated with a net .

Improving the health of American children

President Harry Truman in 1946, with the stated goal of protecting the health and well-being of American children. The program established permanent federal funding for school lunches, and participating schools were required to provide free or reduced-price lunches to children from qualifying households. Eligibility is based on federal poverty levels, both of which are .

In 1966, the piloted the , which provides free, reduced-price and full-price breakfasts to students. This program was later made permanent through an amendment in 1975.

The was piloted in several states beginning in 2011 and became an option for eligible schools nationwide beginning in 2014. It operates through the national school lunch and school breakfast programs and expands on these programs.

The policy allows all students in a school to receive free breakfast and lunch, rather than determine eligibility by individual households. Entire schools or school districts are eligible for free lunches if at least 40% of their students are directly certified to receive free meals, meaning their household participated in a means-based safety net program, such as the , or the child is identified as runaway, homeless, in foster care or enrolled in Head Start. Some states also .

The Community Eligibility Provision increases school meal participation by associated with receiving free meals, eliminating the need to complete and process applications and extending access to students in households with incomes above the eligibility threshold for free meals. As of 2023, the eligibility threshold for free meals is 130% of the federal poverty level, which amounts to US$39,000 for a family of four.

Universal free meals and obesity

We analyzed whether providing universal free meals at school through the Community Eligibility Provision was associated with lower childhood obesity before the COVID-19 pandemic.

To do this, we measured from 2013 to 2019 among 3,531 low-income California schools. We used over 3.5 million body mass index measurements of students in fifth, seventh and ninth grade that were taken annually and aggregated at the school level. To ensure rigorous results, we between schools that adopted the policy and eligible schools that did not. We also followed the same schools over time, comparing obesity prevalence before and after the policy.

We found that schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision had a in obesity prevalence compared with eligible schools that did not participate in the provision. Although our findings are modest, even small improvements in obesity levels are notable because effective strategies to reduce obesity at a population level . Additionally, because obesity racially and ethnically marginalized and low-income children, this policy could contribute to reducing health disparities.

The Community Eligibility Provision likely reduces obesity prevalence by substituting up to half of a child’s weekly diet with healthier options and simultaneously for low-to-middle-income families. Families receiving free breakfast and lunch save approximately $4.70 per day per child, or $850 per year. For low-income families, particularly those with multiple school-age children, this could result in meaningful savings that families can use for other health-promoting goods or services.

Expanding access to school meals

Childhood obesity the past several decades. Obesity often to a range of .

Growing research is showing the benefits of universal free school meals for the health and well-being of children. Along with our study of California schools, other researchers have found an association between universal free school meals and reduced obesity in , and , as well as among and school districts in .

Studies have also linked the Community Eligibility Provision to and .

While our research observed a reduction in the prevalence of obesity among schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision relative to schools that did not, obesity increased over time in both groups, with a greater increase among nonparticipating schools.

Universal free meals policies may slow the rise in childhood obesity rates, but they alone will not be sufficient to reverse these trends. Alongside universal free meals, identifying to reduce obesity among children is necessary to address this public health issue.

As of 2023, universal free school meals policies. States such as California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico have pledged to cover the difference between school meal expenditures and federal reimbursements. As more states adopt their own universal free meals policies, understanding their effects on child health and well-being, as well as barriers and supports to successfully implementing these programs, will be critical.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

As New Jersey students returned to classrooms this week, the number of them eligible for free or reduced school breakfast and lunch jumped — and hunger insecurity advocates are eyeing ways to make those meals free for all children.

“We are hopeful — since New Jersey has done so much and really led the way in addressing hunger and food insecurity — that in this next legislative session, they can get a school-meals-for-all bill passed,” said Lisa Pitz of Hunger Free New Jersey.

About 26,000 new students  program this school year thanks to a bill Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law last September. That’s in addition to the more than who received free or reduced breakfast and lunch between 2019 and 2020, the most recently available data.

The law, known as the Working Class Families’ Anti-Hunger Act, expanded eligibility to families who earn 200% of the federal poverty level. That translates to households with three children earning $46,060 maximum, or for those with two children, $36,620.

It also requires all school districts to provide a free school breakfast and lunch program and to publicize its availability to their communities.

While experts applauded the new law, signed soon after pandemic-era  providing free lunches expired, nutrition experts and food hunger advocates want to see more action from state lawmakers.

“There’s definitely interest at the state level in going for a universal meals program for the state. It’s just a matter of getting everyone on board and finding the will to do it,” said Sal Valenza, public policy chair for the New Jersey School Nutrition Association.

The Assembly passed a bill () in June that would further expand eligibility for free and reduced school meals for the 2024-25 school year. The bill would also require the creation of a task force that would study school food security issues and recommend state- and federal-level action.

A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex), a prime sponsor of the legislation, said he believes every child should have access to meals at school, and the bill advanced in June will “put New Jersey on the path to accomplish that goal.”

The bill still needs to advance in the state Senate, where it has yet to be heard in committee. It is expected to cost the state about $57 million.

that would phase in free school lunches for all students by 2028 advanced out of an Assembly committee in June but did not win full approval before the Legislature went on its summer recess. Under that bill, which is estimated to cost the state more than $500 million after it’s phased in, New Jersey would join a handful of other states to provide free school meals for all students.  Massachusetts officials made school lunches available to all public school students regardless of income level.

But New Jersey would be an outlier by using the phase-in approach, noted Pitz.

“Really, the time to act on this is now,” she said. “We don’t ask our kids to pay for their textbooks or when they take the bus. School meals should just be part of their school day so that all kids can learn and grow to their full potential.”

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In North Carolina’s push to curb childhood hunger, schools will provide locally sourced food to millions of youth this summer.

The North Carolina summer nutrition program offers free meals to kids and teenagers under the age of 18. Administered by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the program typically takes place in “economically distressed areas” so that they can serve the most food-insecure students. While students receive meals in school, once the academic year ends, they might not have enough food at home.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, 1.2 million people experience food insecurity — 394,000 of them children.

The support comes in lieu of the dwindling resources from the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.

NCDPI calls on sponsors of the summer meal program to participate in the . This includes serving locally sourced foods, connecting farmers with communities to learn about agriculture and nutrition, and hosting cooking classes.

The public will be able to access food from schools, public housing centers, playgrounds, camps, parks, medical centers, faith-based facilities, and libraries. Providers also offer fitness activities for children and their general communities.

In a press release, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt expressed concerns about acquiring community sponsors.

“Our goal is to increase the number of community sponsors that can partner with us to help provide reimbursable meals to food-insecure children,” Truitt said. “School and summer meals provide students with essential nutrition for growth, development, and learning. Participation in school and Summer Nutrition Programs also provide educational enrichment and support social-emotional learning.”

More families might rely on summer meal programs as the resources from the P-EBT program subside. P-EBT is a temporary service that distributes food assistance benefits to eligible families during the COVID-19 public health emergency, which ended on May 11.

Eligible children and teens who attended school in person during the school year will receive a one-time benefits payment over the summer if they applied by the end of May.

NCDHHS aims to reduce the food insecurity rate from its current 10.9% to 10% by December 2024.

Statewide, there is a push to get more citizens food and nutrition services and to increase participation in the Special Supplemental nutrition program for women and children. They also want to get more community-based organizations involved and increase breastfeeding support services.

These strategies are outlined in the .

“We often take for granted the healthy and nutritious food we keep in our refrigerators and pantries — but many families struggle to put food on the table every day,” said NCDHHS Chief Deputy Secretary for Opportunity and Well-Being Susan Gale Perry. “Our goal with this plan is to ensure everyone can get the food and nutrition they need to thrive, and fewer North Carolinians experience hunger.”

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The lion’s share of Hoosier schools that qualify for don’t take advantage of it, according to a new national report.

Across the country, 6,419 school districts — 67.5 percent of those eligible — adopted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) in one or more schools for the 2022– 2023 school year, the (FRAC) reported in a .

But in Indiana, only 40.6% of eligible school districts — and 51.7% of eligible schools overall —  adopted CEP in the most recent academic year.

Although Indiana was among the 39 states that saw an increase in the number of schools adopting community eligibility, the Hoosier state still ranks 47th in the nation for CEP participation.

The program allows schools with high poverty rates to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of their economic status. Child health advocates and education experts laud the federal provision as a benefit to both students and school administrators.

No Kid Hungry, a non-profit organization that focuses on increasing access to healthy meals for children and alleviating childhood hunger, emphasized that kids are more attentive in class, have better attendance and are less likely to have disciplinary problems when their nutritional needs are met.

With CEP, families with tight food budgets are also ensured that their child is getting two balanced meals at school, reducing financial strain at home.

The program works for schools, as well, by eliminating school meals applications and unpaid meal charges that often create administrative burdens.

Some schools have recently adopted CEP as a way to continue offering healthy meals to all students — free of charge — after the expiration of the pandemic child nutrition waivers last year, according to FRAC.

But researchers said that many schools, including some in Indiana, choose not to participate out of fear that losing data from school meal applications may also result in the loss of Title 1 funding.

Indiana schools and districts have until June 30 to submit a CEP application for the 2023-24 school year. It’s not clear how many new applications have been submitted so far.

By the numbers

During the 2022–23 school year, there was a significant increase in the number of schools and districts nationwide participating in community eligibility, according to FRAC’s latest report.

While the number of participating schools in Indiana increased, too, the take-up rate among eligible schools overall decreased slightly.

Of the 1,148 schools eligible for CEP in the last school year, 593 participated, according to federal data collected by FARC. That’s up from 506 participating schools in the 2021-22 academic year, when 957 schools qualified.

Among those to join were in Indianapolis, which serves nearly 11,000 students.

Of the 469 eligible Indiana schools where more than 60% of students qualify as high-need under CEP guidelines, 311 participated in the federal program in the 2022-23 school year — a 66.3% adoption rate.

About 52% of Hoosier schools with 50-60% high-need students — 200 of the 356 eligible schools — signed up. Participation dropped to 24.5% for those schools with high-need student enrollment at or below 50%; of the 323 schools that were eligible, only 77 took advantage of the program.

The Indiana Department of Education estimates that at least 1,100 schools will qualify for CEP in the 2023-24 academic year.

How CEP works — and why it helps

Families are not required to submit an application for the community provision like they would for the free and reduced meals program. That guarantees free breakfast and lunch for any student at a participating school.

Indianapolis Public Schools, as well as the surrounding Perry, Warren and Wayne school districts, are continuing to offer free meals – both lunches and breakfasts – to students through CEP for the 2023-24 school year. Certain MSD of Lawrence Township schools are also participating in CEP to provide free meals.

Thousands of students at other Indianapolis-area schools — in the Decatur, Franklin, Speedway and Washington school districts — will not automatically get free food, though.

Some district officials they do not participate in CEP because of the federal program’s “complexity,” while others noted that their schools do not qualify for complete meal reimbursement, meaning districts have to pay out-of-pocket to cover the rest.

For a school to qualify for the CEP, at least 40% of the individual school’s enrolled population must already participate in another means-tested program or are part of a protected group, such as students experiencing homelessness, in foster care, or migrant students.

Schools that meet the minimum threshold to qualify for the community provision receive reimbursement for 62.5% of meals served, according to federal guidelines. Schools with enrolled populations over 62.5%, where nearly two-thirds of students fall into the above categories, get fully reimbursed for students’ meals.

Schools with higher numbers of students in need receive a near or total reimbursement for meals, which makes community eligibility a more financially viable option. That also makes them more likely to participate in community eligibility, according to FRAC.

While any school with an enrolled population of 40% or more can participate, many schools on the lower end of the scale “fear participating” because the level of reimbursement from the federal government would not fully cover the cost of all meals served to students, said Allyson Pérez, a child nutrition policy analyst with FRAC.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .