January 28, 2021

On January 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) published the waiver "  Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Opt-In Waiver for School Year 2021-2022 National School Lunch Program USDA Foods Entitlement Calculations." This waiver grants States the option to extend the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Opt-In Waiver for School Year 2020-2021. Therefore, States will use preliminary SY 2021-2022 entitlement values that continue to be based on SY 2018-2019 lunch counts. States that wish to participate must notify the Food Distribution Division Program Integrity and Monitoring Branch by January 31, 2021.  

On January 22, President Biden's administration announced that USDA is increasing the Pandemic-Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) by approximately 15%. P-EBT was first established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress in March 2020 and connects low-income families with kids with food dollars equivalent to the value of the meals missed due to COVID-related school closures.  Read more