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If you would like to take a deeper dive into what CEP may look like in your school / district, fill out the form below and a Michigan CEP expert will get back to you.
The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal school meal funding option that enables schools, participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, to provide free meals to all students.
Resource: FAQ from MDE
Making the Case for CEP
- Michigan CEP Overview
- New! CEP Communication Toolkit
- Michigan CEP Benefits for Students, Families, and Schools
- What School Nutrition Staff Need to Know About Title 1 Funding
- CEP Talking Points for Conversations with District Administrators
- CEP Financial Considerations for School Business Officials
- Template Letter to School Administrators about Adopting CEP
- Including Community Eligibility in Your Back-to-School Plans (webinar)
Maximizing Reimbursement and Participation
- Michigan Strategies for Finding Success with CEP
- “COVID’s Impact on School Meal Data & Title I Funding” published by ASBO International
- Tips for Making Partial CEP Work in Michigan
- Michigan ISP Management: Increasing and Maximizing Your District’s ISP
- Michigan CEP Meal Claiming 101
- Calculating ISPs Using Early Childhood Program and Alternative Agreement School Data
Grouping and Financial Analysis Tools
- No Kid Hungry’s CEP Calculator and video demo
- MealsCount.com and video demo (grouping tool)
Other Options for Universal Free School Meals
Additional Webinars
The latest updates and resources on CEP can be found here.
CEP Assessment Tools
From maximizing ISPs to business savvy strategies to increase revenue. We have several tools for you!
Meals Count is a free tool to help school districts optimize their Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) applications, maximize school meal funding, and fight childhood hunger.
No Kid Hungry CEP Webinars
You’ve Gone CEP, Now What? – Tips and Tricks to Maximize CEP
Want to make Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) a success? Watch this deep dive into CEP implementation. You will learn strategies and best practices to maximize the benefits of CEP. This webinar is perfect for both districts new to and familiar with CEP. We promise you’ll come away with tips and tricks to make this school year the best yet. You will hear from No Kid Hungry CEP Consultant, Sally Spero, SNS, who will discuss tracking key performance indicators, operational changes to maximize benefits, and tips for looking ahead to SY23-24. View the recording here.
FRAC CEP Webinars
Making CEP Work: Best Practices and Increasing Participation
Serving meals on weekends and holidays provides an important opportunity to reduce hunger while also supporting programs with additional reimbursement. This webinar will provide an overview of available options for serving meals on weekends and holidays during the 2022-2023 school year, along with best practices for implementation. View the recording here.
Get your CEP Questions Answered
Watch this recording to learn more about CEP, including a lengthy Q+A section with representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education, School Nutrition Directors, and more. Watch the recording here.
CEP Kickoff Webinar SY2022-2023
Community Eligibility season is upon us! The past two school years have highlighted the value of offering school meals at no charge to all students. As we look ahead to the 2022-2023 school year and the potential return to normal school nutrition operations, a few things are clear: community eligibility offers school districts and schools the opportunity to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students for four school years. Join this webinar as we discuss basics and benefits of community eligibility, along with resources and tools available to aid in the adoption process.
Making CEP Work with Low ISP’s and Partial District Implementation
The pandemic has highlighted the value of offering school meals at no charge to all students. Community Eligibility provides an excellent opportunity for high poverty schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students beyond the 2021-2022 school year. The community eligibility reimbursement formula determines what percent of meals are reimbursed at the free and paid rates. Thousands of schools and districts across the country have experienced the benefits of community eligibility by participating with ISPs below 60 percent and by having individual schools participate within a district. Watch this webinar to learn about the strategies and resources available for making community eligibility work with low ISPs and/or partial district implementation.
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP): Implementing in States that Require Alternative Forms
Community eligibility eliminates the need to collect school meal applications, but there are some states that require schools to collect alternative forms to receive state education funding. Join us for this webinar to learn about successful strategies to collect the forms and implement community eligibility.
No Kid Hungry CEP Week!
This year, No Kid Hungry held it’s first ever CEP week! Below are short and informative videos on Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The information presented will help schools considering CEP and also provide ways to improve and expand existing CEP programs. You can view all of the recordings below by clicking on each day:
Day 1 – Is CEP Right for You?
Learn how CEP and Provision 2 compare to traditional counting and claiming. You will also hear the considerations and opportunities of each program option.
Day 2 – CEP Financials
Learn how CEP can impact revenue and costs. You will also learn how you can manage the program to maintain overall financial stability in year one and beyond.
Day 3 – CEP and Your Central Business Officer (CBO)
Time to make the case for CEP! Now that you understand the program, it’s time to talk to your administrators and central business office. In this video, you will learn how to coordinate your district’s data needs (including Title I) and hear strategies for implementing CEP in some but not all of your schools.
Day 4 – Maximizing ISP
Learn how to maximize your district’s Identified Student Percentage (ISP) which is critical to maximizing reimbursement. You will learn how to resolve issues in data matching and pick-up tricks for special circumstances.
Day 5 – Measuring CEP Success
You made it! Day five is all about measuring success and ensuring future program stability. You will also learn about what Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are most effective to measure success.
Resources
We encourage you to always visit the Michigan Department of Education and USDA websites for up-to-date information, deadlines, and waiver information.
Additionally, you can also view the Michigan Department of Education’s CEP resources and contact them by clicking here.