GPS: Updated Income Guidelines for Free and Reduced Priced School Lunch

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Greenwich Schools are sharing the income guidelines for determining eligibility for free and reduced-price meals in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

The income guidelines are from the USDA’s annual adjustments to the Income Guidelines (7CFR Part
245.3(a)). They are used in Connecticut to determine the eligibility of participants for free and reduced-price meals in the USDA Child Nutrition Programs from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

Income means income before 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 non-farm 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Other cash income includes cash amounts received or withdrawn from any source including savings, investments, trust accounts, and other resources. “Income” as used here does not include any income or benefits received under any Federal programs, which are excluded from consideration as income by any legislative prohibition, for example, the value of benefits received under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

If a household has only one source of income, or if all sources of income are the same frequency, do not use conversion factors. Compare the income or sum of the incomes to the chart above for the appropriate frequency and household size to make the eligibility determination.

Many households have different sources of income coming into the home at different frequencies, such as weekly or bi-weekly wages and monthly social security benefits. In these situations, all sources of income must be converted to an annual amount using the calculations below.

  • Multiply weekly income by 52
  • Multiply income received every two weeks by 26
  • Multiply income received twice a month by 24
  • Multiply monthly income by 12

In applying the guidelines, the school food authority/institution must compare the household’s size and total household income to the income guidelines to determine eligibility for free or reduced-price meals. Children of parents or guardians who become unemployed may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals during the period of unemployment.

This information is also available on the CT Dept of Education website here.