{"id":13744,"date":"2026-03-17T10:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/virginia\/?p=13744"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:05:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:05:48","slug":"virginia-general-assembly-recognizes-how-community-eligibility-provision-is-increasing-access-to-no-cost-school-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/virginia\/2026\/03\/17\/virginia-general-assembly-recognizes-how-community-eligibility-provision-is-increasing-access-to-no-cost-school-meals\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia General Assembly Recognizes How Community Eligibility Provision is\u00a0Increasing Access to\u00a0No-Cost School Meals"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"13744\" class=\"elementor elementor-13744\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-27d0f681 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"27d0f681\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4c1c4da\" data-id=\"4c1c4da\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a6eca0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a6eca0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><b data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">RICHMOND, VA (March 12, 2026)&nbsp;<\/b>\u2013<b>\u202f<\/b>Virginia lawmakers highlighted the state\u2019s success with the&nbsp;<a title=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/cn\/cep\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/cn\/cep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\">Community Eligibility Provision<\/a> during the House floor session on Thursday, March 12th.<br><br><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><u><a id=\"OWA8d3a58b8-6fe0-d6fe-4531-08bf3e72f4ed\" class=\"x_Hyperlink x_SCXW172765003 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/HJ267\/text\/HJ267\" href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/HJ267\/text\/HJ267\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\">House Joint Resolution No.&nbsp;267<\/a><\/u> was introduced in the Virginia General Assembly by Delegate Cia Price.<br><br><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">The meal service option, commonly known as CEP, allows eligible schools to serve no-cost breakfast and lunch to all students without collecting household income applications. More than 1,200 Virginia schools within 116 school divisions currently participate in CEP, helping increase free meal access for over 708,000 students.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><br><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">By decreasing stigma and&nbsp;eliminating&nbsp;paperwork burdens for busy&nbsp;families, schools that&nbsp;participate&nbsp;in CEP are associated with meaningful increases in school&nbsp;meals&nbsp;participation.&nbsp;Research&nbsp;shows that students who&nbsp;participate&nbsp;in school meals can have positive diet-related outcomes, see new academic growth and experience reduced hunger,&nbsp;especially among&nbsp;learners&nbsp;living in households that are navigating income insecurity.<\/div><div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><br><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">CEP enrollment for schools and divisions takes place May 1\u2013June 30. No Kid Hungry encourages all eligible school divisions to maintain or expand their CEP enrollment for the 2026\u20132027 school year.<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RICHMOND, VA (March 12, 2026)&nbsp;\u2013\u202fVirginia lawmakers highlighted the state\u2019s success with the&nbsp;Community Eligibility Provision during the House floor session on Thursday, March 12th. House Joint Resolution No.&nbsp;267 was introduced in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-press-release"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Virginia General Assembly Recognizes How Community Eligibility Provision is\u00a0Increasing Access to\u00a0No-Cost School Meals - VIRGINIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/virginia\/2026\/03\/17\/virginia-general-assembly-recognizes-how-community-eligibility-provision-is-increasing-access-to-no-cost-school-meals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia General Assembly Recognizes How Community Eligibility Provision is\u00a0Increasing Access to\u00a0No-Cost School Meals - VIRGINIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RICHMOND, VA (March 12, 2026)&nbsp;\u2013\u202fVirginia lawmakers highlighted the state\u2019s success with the&nbsp;Community Eligibility Provision during the House floor session on Thursday, March 12th. 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