| Page Range | 17026-17027 | |
| FR Document | 2015-07358 |
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2015)] [Notices] [Pages 17026-17027] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2015-07358] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Food and Nutrition Service 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, 2015 through June 30, 2016. 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, 2015. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vivian Lees, Branch Chief, Operational Support Branch, Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, or by phone at (703) 305-2322. 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 2 CFR 415.3-415.6). 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 [[Page 17027]] 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, 2015 through June 30, 2016. The Department's guidelines for free meals and milk and reduced price meals were obtained by multiplying the year 2015 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 1.7 percent over last year's level for a family of the same size. The income eligibility guidelines table follows below. Income Eligibility Guidelines [Effective from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Federal Reduced price meals--185% Free meals--130% poverty ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Household size guidelines Every Twice Every ------------ Annual Monthly Twice per two Weekly Annual Monthly per two Weekly Annual month weeks month weeks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 Contiguous States, District of Columbia, Guam and Territories -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1........................................... 11,770 21,775 1,815 908 838 419 15,301 1,276 638 589 295 2........................................... 15,930 29,471 2,456 1,228 1,134 567 20,709 1,726 863 797 399 3........................................... 20,090 37,167 3,098 1,549 1,430 715 26,117 2,177 1,089 1,005 503 4........................................... 24,250 44,863 3,739 1,870 1,726 863 31,525 2,628 1,314 1,213 607 5........................................... 28,410 52,559 4,380 2,190 2,022 1,011 36,933 3,078 1,539 1,421 711 6........................................... 32,570 60,255 5,022 2,511 2,318 1,159 42,341 3,529 1,765 1,629 815 7........................................... 36,730 67,951 5,663 2,832 2,614 1,307 47,749 3,980 1,990 1,837 919 8........................................... 40,890 75,647 6,304 3,152 2,910 1,455 53,157 4,430 2,215 2,045 1,023 For each additional family member add....... 4,160 7,696 642 321 296 148 5,408 451 226 208 104 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alaska -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1........................................... 14,720 27,232 2,270 1,135 1,048 524 19,136 1,595 798 736 368 2........................................... 19,920 36,852 3,071 1,536 1,418 709 25,896 2,158 1,079 996 498 3........................................... 25,120 46,472 3,873 1,937 1,788 894 32,656 2,722 1,361 1,256 628 4........................................... 30,320 56,092 4,675 2,338 2,158 1,079 39,416 3,285 1,643 1,516 758 5........................................... 35,520 65,712 5,476 2,738 2,528 1,264 46,176 3,848 1,924 1,776 888 6........................................... 40,720 75,332 6,278 3,139 2,898 1,449 52,936 4,412 2,206 2,036 1,018 7........................................... 45,920 84,952 7,080 3,540 3,268 1,634 59,696 4,975 2,488 2,296 1,148 8........................................... 51,120 94,572 7,881 3,941 3,638 1,819 66,456 5,538 2,769 2,556 1,278 For each additional family member add....... 5,200 9,620 802 401 370 185 6,760 564 282 260 130 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hawaii -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1........................................... 13,550 25,068 2,089 1,045 965 483 17,615 1,468 734 678 339 2........................................... 18,330 33,911 2,826 1,413 1,305 653 23,829 1,986 993 917 459 3........................................... 23,110 42,754 3,563 1,782 1,645 823 30,043 2,504 1,252 1,156 578 4........................................... 27,890 51,597 4,300 2,150 1,985 993 36,257 3,022 1,511 1,395 698 5........................................... 32,670 60,440 5,037 2,519 2,325 1,163 42,471 3,540 1,770 1,634 817 6........................................... 37,450 69,283 5,774 2,887 2,665 1,333 48,685 4,058 2,029 1,873 937 7........................................... 42,230 78,126 6,511 3,256 3,005 1,503 54,899 4,575 2,288 2,112 1,056 8........................................... 47,010 86,969 7,248 3,624 3,345 1,673 61,113 5,093 2,547 2,351 1,176 For each additional family member add....... 4,780 8,843 737 369 341 171 6,214 518 259 239 120 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authority: Section 9(b)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1). Date: March 26, 2015. Jeffrey J. Tribiano, Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service. [FR Doc. 2015-07358 Filed 3-30-15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-30-P
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Notices | |
| Action | Notice. | |
| Contact | Vivian Lees, Branch Chief, Operational Support Branch, Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, or by phone at (703) 305-2322. | |
| FR Citation | 80 FR 17026 |