2014-04788. Child Nutrition Programs-Income Eligibility Guidelines

AGENCY:

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION:

Notice

SUMMARY:

This Notice announces the Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk for the period from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. These guidelines are used by schools, institutions, and facilities participating in the National School Lunch Program (and Commodity School Program), School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program. The annual adjustments are required by section 9 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The guidelines are intended to direct benefits to those children most in need and are revised annually to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index.

DATES:

Effective Date: July 1, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Julie Brewer, Chief, School Programs Branch, Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, or by phone at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This action is not a rule as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612) and thus is exempt from the provisions of that Act.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), no recordkeeping or reporting requirements have been included that are subject to approval from the Office of Management and Budget.

This notice has been determined to be not significant and was reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget in conformance with Executive Order 12866.

The affected programs are listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance under No. 10.553, No. 10.555, No. 10.556, No. 10.558 and No. 10.559 and are subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local officials. (See 7 CFR part 3015, Subpart V, and the final rule related notice published at 48 FR 29114, June 24, 1983.)

Background

Pursuant to sections 9(b)(1) and 17(c)(4) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1) and 42 U.S.C. 1766(c)(4)), and sections 3(a)(6) and 4(e)(1)(A) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772(a)(6) and 1773(e)(1)(A)), the Department annually issues the Income Eligibility Guidelines for free and reduced price meals for the National School Lunch Program (7 CFR part 210), the Commodity School Program (7 CFR part 210), School Breakfast Program (7 CFR part 220), Summer Food Service Program (7 CFR part 225) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (7 CFR part 226), and the guidelines for free milk in the Special Milk Program for Children (7 CFR part 215). These eligibility guidelines are based on the Federal income poverty guidelines and are stated by household size. The guidelines are used to determine eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk in accordance with applicable program rules.

Definition of Income

In accordance with the Department's policy as provided in the Food and Nutrition Service publication Eligibility Manual for School Meals, “income,” as the term is used in this Notice, means income before any deductions such as income taxes, Social Security taxes, insurance premiums, charitable contributions and bonds. It includes the following: (1) Monetary compensation for services, including wages, salary, commissions or fees; (2) net income from nonfarm self-employment; (3) net income from farm self-employment; (4) Social Security; (5) dividends or interest on savings or bonds or income from estates or trusts; (6) net rental income; (7) public assistance or welfare payments; (8) unemployment compensation; (9) government civilian employee or military retirement, or pensions or veterans payments; (10) private pensions or annuities; (11) alimony or child support payments; (12) regular contributions from persons not living in the household; (13) net royalties; and (14) other cash income. Other cash income would include cash amounts received or withdrawn from any source including savings, investments, trust accounts and other resources that would be available to pay the price of a child's meal.

“Income,” as the term is used in this Notice, does not include any income or benefits received under any Federal programs that are excluded from consideration as income by any statutory prohibition. Furthermore, the value of meals or milk to children shall not be considered as income to their households for other benefit programs in accordance with the prohibitions in section 12(e) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and section 11(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1760(e) and 1780(b)).

The Income Eligibility Guidelines

The following are the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be effective from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. The Department's guidelines for free meals and milk and reduced price meals were obtained by multiplying the year 2014 Federal income poverty guidelines by 1.30 and 1.85, respectively, and by rounding the result upward to the next whole dollar.

This Notice displays only the annual Federal poverty guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Human Services because the monthly and weekly Federal poverty guidelines are not used to determine the Income Eligibility Guidelines. The chart details the free and reduced price eligibility criteria for monthly income, income received twice monthly (24 payments per year), income received every two weeks (26 payments per year), and weekly income.

Income calculations are made based on the following formulas: Monthly income is calculated by dividing the annual income by 12; twice monthly income is computed by dividing annual income by 24; income received every two weeks is calculated by dividing annual income by 26; and weekly income is computed by dividing annual income by 52. All numbers are rounded upward to the next whole dollar. The numbers reflected in this notice for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states, the District of Columbia, Guam and the territories represent an increase of 1.3% over last year's level for a family of the same size. The income eligibility guidelines table follows below.

Authority: (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1)).

Dated: February 26, 2014.

Jeffrey J. Tribiano,

Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.

Income Eligibility Guidelines

[Effective from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015]

Household size	Federal poverty guidelines	Reduced price meals—185%					Free meals—130%
	Annual	Annual	Monthly	Twice per month	Every two weeks	Weekly	Annual	Monthly	Twice per month	Every two weeks	Weekly
48 CONTIGUOUS STATES, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, GUAM, AND TERRITORIES
1	11,670	21,590	1,800	900	831	416	15,171	1,265	633	584	292
2	15,730	29,101	2,426	1,213	1,120	560	20,449	1,705	853	787	394
3	19,790	36,612	3,051	1,526	1,409	705	25,727	2,144	1,072	990	495
4	23,850	44,123	3,677	1,839	1,698	849	31,005	2,584	1,292	1,193	597
5	27,910	51,634	4,303	2,152	1,986	993	36,283	3,024	1,512	1,396	698
6	31,970	59,145	4,929	2,465	2,275	1,138	41,561	3,464	1,732	1,599	800
7	36,030	66,656	5,555	2,778	2,564	1,282	46,839	3,904	1,952	1,802	901
8	40,090	74,167	6,181	3,091	2,853	1,427	52,117	4,344	2,172	2,005	1,003
For each add'l family member, add	4,060	7,511	626	313	289	145	5,278	440	220	203	102
ALASKA
1	14,580	26,973	2,248	1,124	1,038	519	18,954	1,580	790	729	365
2	19,660	36,371	3,031	1,516	1,399	700	25,558	2,130	1,065	983	492
3	24,740	45,769	3,815	1,908	1,761	881	32,162	2,681	1,341	1,237	619
4	29,820	55,167	4,598	2,299	2,122	1,061	38,766	3,231	1,616	1,491	746
5	34,900	64,565	5,381	2,691	2,484	1,242	45,370	3,781	1,891	1,745	873
6	39,980	73,963	6,164	3,082	2,845	1,423	51,974	4,332	2,166	1,999	1,000
7	45,060	83,361	6,947	3,474	3,207	1,604	58,578	4,882	2,441	2,253	1,127
8	50,140	92,759	7,730	3,865	3,568	1,784	65,182	5,432	2,716	2,507	1,254
For each add'l family member, add	5,080	9,398	784	392	362	181	6,604	551	276	254	127
HAWAII
1	13,420	24,827	2,069	1,035	955	478	17,446	1,454	727	671	336
2	18,090	33,467	2,789	1,395	1,288	644	23,517	1,960	980	905	453
3	22,760	42,106	3,509	1,755	1,620	810	29,588	2,466	1,233	1,138	569
4	27,430	50,746	4,229	2,115	1,952	976	35,659	2,972	1,486	1,372	686
5	32,100	59,385	4,949	2,475	2,285	1,143	41,730	3,478	1,739	1,605	803
6	36,770	68,025	5,669	2,835	2,617	1,309	47,801	3,984	1,992	1,839	920
7	41,440	76,664	6,389	3,195	2,949	1,475	53,872	4,490	2,245	2,072	1,036
8	46,110	85,304	7,109	3,555	3,281	1,641	59,943	4,996	2,498	2,306	1,153
For each add'l family member, add	4,670	8,640	720	360	333	167	6,071	506	253	234	117