The Michigan Department of Education has announced the household income guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for free and reduced-price meals and free milk through the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Special Milk, and Child and Adult Care Food Programs. The income guidelines are effective from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.  

Contact your school, school district, child care center, or family child care home, to find out whether it participates in these programs.

Schools and child care centers will provide a form for applying for free or reduced-price meals.  Only one application is required per household.  Most participating centers and all participating family child care homes provide meals to all enrolled participants without any separate charge.

Children who are Michigan Family Independence Program recipients, Food Stamp, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations households, or enrolled in Head Start, Even Start, an At-Risk afterschool center, or an emergency shelter, automatically qualify for free meals.  Households with incomes less than or equal to the following guidelines qualify for free or reduced price meals or free milk.

An application to a school or child care center can be approved if it contains complete documentation of household income, or documentation of current participation in the Michigan Family Independence Program, Food Stamps, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. Foster children usually qualify for free meals or free milk without regard to the foster parents’ income.  Information supplied on an application for free or reduced-price meals may be verified at any time.  An appeal procedure is available for households where applications are denied.
 
Participating schools and centers accept applications for free or reduced-price meals at any time during the year. A household may qualify for free or reduced-price meals due to a temporary loss of income, such as a period of unemployment.

If a doctor has determined that a child has a disability, and the disability would prevent the child from eating the regular school or child care meal, the school or child care will make any substitution prescribed by a doctor at no extra charge.  The doctor’s statement, including prescribed diet and/or substitution, must be submitted to the food service department of the school or child care facility.