[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7 Volume 4]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR245.6a]

[Page 260-264]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
    CHAPTER II--FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 245--DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR FREE AND REDUCED PRICE MEALS AND FREE MILK IN SCHOOLS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 245.6a  Verification requirements.

    (a) Verification requirement. School officials may seek verification 
of the information on the application. State agencies shall ensure that 
by December 15 of each School Year, School Food Authorities have 
selected and verified a sample of their approved free and reduced price 
applications in accordance with the conditions and procedures described 
in this section. Verification activity may begin at the start of the

[[Page 261]]

school year but the final required sample size shall be based on the 
number of approved applications on file as of October 31. Any extensions 
to these deadlines must be approved in writing by FNS. School Food 
Authorities are required to satisfy the verification requirement by 
using either random sampling or focused sampling as described below. 
Random sampling consists of verifying a minimum of the lesser of 3 
percent or 3,000 applications which are selected by the School Food 
Authority. Focused sampling consists of selecting and verifying a 
minimum of: the lesser of 1 percent or 1,000 of total applications 
selected from non-food stamp households claiming monthly income within 
$100 or yearly income within $1200 of the income eligibility limit for 
free or reduced price meals; plus the lesser of one half of 1 percent 
(.5%) or 500 applications of food stamp, FDPIR or TANF households that 
provided a food stamp or TANF case number or FDPIR case number or other 
identifier in lieu of income information. A State may require all School 
Food Authorities to perform either random or focused sampling. School 
Food Authorities may choose to verify up to 100 percent of all 
applications to improve program integrity. Any State may, with the 
written approval of FNS, assume responsibility for complying with the 
verification requirements of this part within any of its School Food 
Authorities. When assuming such responsibility, States may utilize 
alternate approaches to verification provided that such verification 
meets the requirements of this part.
    (1) Confirmation of income information. Verification efforts shall 
not delay the approval of applications. An application must be approved 
if it contains the essential information specified in Sec. 245.2(a-4) 
and, if applicable, the household meets the income eligibility criteria 
for free or reduced price benefits. When written evidence or collateral 
contacts are the primary sources of information, the School Food 
Authority shall require the submission of income information for the 
most recent full month that is available. However, when using a system 
of records, the School Food Authority may choose a recent month to 
verify and the entire sample may be verified for the same month. 
Households which dispute the validity of income information acquired 
through systems of records shall be given the opportunity to produce 
more recent income information.
    (2) Notification of selection. Households selected to provide 
verification shall be provided written notice that their applications 
have been selected for verification and that they are required, by such 
date as determined by the school food authority, to submit the requested 
verification information to confirm eligibility for free or reduced 
price meals. These households shall be advised of the type or types of 
information and/or documents acceptable to the school. This information 
must include a social security number for each adult household member or 
an indication that such member does not have one. School food 
authorities shall inform selected households that:
    (i) Section 9 of the National School Lunch Act requires that unless 
the child's food stamp case number/FDPIR case number or other identifier 
or TANF case number is provided, households selected for verification 
must provide the social security number of each adult household member;
    (ii) In lieu of providing a social security number, an adult 
household member may indicate that he/she does not possess one;
    (iii) Provision of a social security number is not mandatory but if 
a social security number is not provided for each adult household member 
or an indication is not made that he/she does not possess one, benefits 
will be terminated;
    (iv) The social security numbers may be used to identify household 
members in carrying out efforts to verify the correctness of information 
stated on the application and continued eligibility for the program. 
These verification efforts may be carried out through program reviews, 
audits, and investigations and may include contacting a food stamp, 
FDPIR or TANF office to determine current certification for receipt of 
these benefits, contacting the State employment security office to 
determine the amount of benefits received and checking documentation 
produced by household

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members to prove the amount of income received. These verification 
efforts may be carried out through program reviews, audits, and 
investigations and may include contacting employers to determine income, 
contacting a food stamp or welfare office to determine current 
certification for receipt of food stamps or AFDC benefits, contacting 
the State employment security office to determine the amount of benefits 
received and checking the documentation produced by household members to 
prove the amount of income received.
    (v) This information must be provided to the attention of each adult 
household member disclosing his/her social security number. State 
agencies and school food authorities shall ensure that the notice 
complies with section 7 of Pub. L. 93-579 (Privacy Act of 1974). These 
households shall be provided with the name and phone number of a school 
official who can assist in the verification effort. Selected households 
must also be informed that, in lieu of any information that would 
otherwise be required, they can submit proof of current food stamp, 
FDPIR or TANF certification as described in paragraph (a)(3) of this 
section to verify the free meal eligibility of a child who is a member 
of a food stamp, FDPIR or TANF household. All households selected for 
verification shall be advised that failure to cooperate with 
verification efforts will result in the termination of benefits.
    (3) Food stamp, FDPIR or TANF recipients. On applications where 
households have furnished food stamp or TANF case numbers or FDPIR case 
numbers or other identifiers, verification shall be accomplished either 
by confirming with the local food stamp, FDPIR, or TANF office that each 
child, for whom application was made and a case number or other 
identifier was provided, is a member of a currently certified food 
stamp, FDPIR or TANF household; or by obtaining from the household a 
copy of a current ``Notice of Eligibility'' for the Food Stamp Program, 
FDPIR or TANF Program or equivalent official documentation issued by the 
food stamp, FDPIR or TANF office which confirms that the child is a 
member of a currently certified food stamp, FDPIR or TANF household. An 
identification card for either program is not acceptable as verification 
unless it contains an expiration date. If it is not established that the 
child is a member of a currently certified food stamp, TANF or FDPIR 
household, the procedures for adverse action specified in paragraph (e) 
of this section must be followed. The notification of forthcoming 
termination of benefits provided to such households shall include a 
request for household income information and for written evidence which 
confirms household income to assist those households in establishing 
continued eligibility for free meal benefits.
    (4) Household cooperation. If a household refuses to cooperate with 
efforts to verify, eligibility for free or reduced price benefits shall 
be terminated in accordance with Sec. 245.6a(e). Households which refuse 
to complete the verification process and which are consequently 
determined ineligible for such benefits shall be counted toward meeting 
the School Food Authority's required sample of verified households.
    (5) Exceptions from verification. Verification efforts are not 
required in residential child care institutions; schools in which FNS 
has approved special cash assistance claims based on economic statistics 
regarding per capita income; or schools in which all children are served 
with no separate charge for food service and no special cash assistance 
is claimed. School Food Authorities in which all schools participate in 
the Special Assistance Certification and Reimbursement Alternatives 
specified in Sec. 245.9 shall meet the verification requirement only in 
those years in which applications are taken for all children in 
attendance. Verification of eligibility is not required of households 
when the determination of eligibility was based on documentation 
provided by the State or local agency responsible for the administration 
of the Food Stamp Program, FDPIR or TANF Program, as described in 
Sec. 245.6(b).
    (b) Sources of information. Sources of information for verification 
may include written evidence, collateral contacts, and systems of 
records.

[[Page 263]]

    (1) Written evidence. Written evidence shall be used as the primary 
source of information for verification. Written evidence includes 
written confirmation of a household's circumstances, such as wage stubs, 
award letters, and letters from employers. Whenever written evidence is 
insufficient to confirm income information on the application or current 
eligibility, the school may require collateral contacts.
    (2) Collateral contact. Collateral contact is a verbal confirmation 
of a household's circumstances by a person outside of the household. The 
collateral contact may be made by person or by phone. The verifying 
official may select a collateral contact if the household fails to 
designate one or designates one which is unacceptable to the verifying 
official. If the verifying official designates a collateral contact, the 
contact shall not be made without providing written or oral notice to 
the household. At the time of this notice, the household shall be 
informed that it may consent to the contact or provide acceptable 
verification in another form. If the household refuses to choose one of 
these options, its eligibility shall be terminated in accordance with 
the normal procedures for failure to cooperate with verification 
efforts. Collateral contacts could include employers, social service 
agencies, and migrant agencies.
    (3) Agency records. Agency records to which the State agency or 
School Food Authority may have access are not considered collateral 
contacts. Information concerning income, household size, or food stamp, 
FDPIR, or TANF eligibility maintained by other government agencies to 
which the State agency, school food authority or school can legally gain 
access may be used to confirm a household's income, size, or receipt of 
benefits. One possible source could be wage and benefit information 
maintained by the State employment agency, if that information is 
available. The use of any information derived from other agencies must 
be used with the applicable safeguards concerning disclosure.
    (c) Verification recordkeeping. School Food Authorities verifying 
applications shall maintain on file for review a description of the 
verification to be accomplished beginning School Year 1983-84. The 
description shall include:
    (1) A summary of the verification efforts including the techniques 
to be used;
    (2) the total number of applications on file by October 31;
    (3) the percentage or number of applications verified;
    (4) all verified applications must be readily retrievable by school 
and include all documents submitted by the household in an effort to 
confirm eligibility, reproductions of those documents, or annotations 
made by the determining official which indicate which documents were 
submitted by the household and the date of submission;
    (5) documentation of any changes in eligibility and the reasons for 
the changes; and
    (6) all relevant correspondences between the household selected for 
verification and the school food authority/school.
    (d) Nondiscrimination. The verification efforts shall be applied 
without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, age, or disability.
    (e) Adverse action. If verification activities fail to confirm 
eligibility for free or reduced price benefits or should the household 
fail to cooperate with verification efforts, the school or School Food 
Authority shall reduce or terminate benefits, as applicable, as follows: 
Ten days advance notification shall be provided to households that are 
to receive a reduction or termination of benefits, prior to the actual 
reduction or termination. The first day of the 10 day advance notice 
period shall be the day the notice is sent. The notice shall advise the 
household of:
    (1) The change; (2) the reasons for the change; (3) notification of 
the right to appeal and when the appeal must be filed to ensure 
continued benefits while awaiting a hearing and decision; (4) 
instructions on how to appeal; and (5) the right to reapply at any time 
during the school year. The reasons for ineligibility shall be properly 
documented

[[Page 264]]

and retained on file at the School Food Authority.


(Sec. 803, Pub. L. 97-35, 95 Stat. 521-535 (42 U.S.C. 1758))

[48 FR 12510, Mar. 25, 1983, as amended at 49 FR 26034, June 26, 1984; 
52 FR 19275, May 22, 1987; 55 FR 19240, May 9, 1990; 56 FR 32950, July 
17, 1991; 56 FR 33861, July 24, 1991; 64 FR 50744, Sept. 20, 1999; 64 FR 
72474, Dec. 28, 1999]