Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and Title I, Part A
Contact Information
Community eligibility is an option available under United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child Nutrition Program that provides an alternative approach for offering school meals to schools in low income areas, instead of collecting individual applications for free and reduced price meals.
CEP Impacts on Non-Child Nutrition State & Federal Programs
The districts electing to participate in this program need to understand how their decision impacts Title I, A Program, E-rate, and other state programs that use poverty data for allocation purposes.
Family Income Survey
Please see the Child Nutrition Services webpage for more information on the Family Income Survey.
The following Q&A addresses issues surrounding the Child Nutrition Community Eligibility Program and its relationship with other federal and state administered programs and the state accountability system regarding poverty data.
Q & A — U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Provision Impacts to Non-Child Nutrition Programs Regarding Poverty Data
- Q&A By Topic Title I, Part A Allocations to Buildings | State Funded Programs and Household Income Survey | E-Rate and Accountability System, Other Reporting Impact
This Q&A is part of the informational Memorandum 016-15M Title I, K–12 Financial Resources
Title I, Part A Community Eligibility Provision
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released guidance on the Community Eligibility Provision and Selected Requirements under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as Amended. The March 2015 guidance explains how state and local educational agencies (SEAs and LEAs) can successfully implement the Title I, Part A requirements using school lunch program data that incorporate the Community Eligibility Provision found in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The March 2015 guidance replaced the July 2014 version.
- Community Eligibility Provision — CEP Guidance March 2015