State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen Announces Participation in Automatic Enrollment Through Medicaid for Free and Reduced-Price School Meals
HELENA – Superintendent Elsie Arntzen announced that Montana has been selected to participate in a project to evaluate the impact of using Medicaid eligibility data to directly certify students for free and reduced-price school meals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service included Montana as one of 15 new states that will test the impact of Medicaid Direct Certification, which was first initiated through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Direct certification means that families enrolled in Medicaid will be automatically enrolled in the free and reduced-price school meal program.
“Montana is always seeking new opportunities to cut through government red tape,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “Montana’s participation in this new project will benefit students and families through automatic enrollment. Our schools will spend less time reviewing applications and determining eligibility.”
“Direct certification works to decrease errors in school meal program administration and ensures children in need aren’t mistakenly left behind,” said USDA Food and Nutrition Service Mountain Plains Regional Administrator Cheryl Kennedy. “By eliminating applications, direct certification not only reduces burden on families and schools, but also is a key error-reduction strategy for the school meals programs in Montana.”
Currently families of students that receive free and reduced-price meals are required to apply through the school using an online or paper application. Eligibility for free and reduced-price meals is determined based on:
- Family income
- Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
- Children who meet the definition of homeless, migrant, runaway, and foster
During the 2022-2023 school year, 39.6% of students qualify for free and reduced-price school meals. The new Medicaid direct certification program will begin during the next school year of 2023-2024.
###