The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) requires the use of the Income Eligibility Form (IEF) to determine the income eligibility of enrolled children participating in camps, conditional non-congregate sites, and closed enrolled sites. The information collected on the IEF includes household size and income or the case number for benefits received under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The IEF and the Income Eligibility Guidelines are included in this booklet.

Important points to remember:

• An IEF documenting program eligibility must be on file with the sponsor for each child claimed for SFSP meal reimbursement in residential camps and conditional non-congregate sites.
• For closed enrolled sites, at least 50% of the children enrolled in the program must be eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and IEFs must be on file for these children. “Enrolled” for purposes of the SFSP may be defined as any child who attended the site at any time during the claim period (usually one month).
• IEFs are only effective for one year. They must be updated annually.
• The parent letter included in this packet must be given to the parent or guardian with the IEF. This letter provides the required information and instructions to the parent or guardian for completing the IEF.
• The Income Eligibility Guidelines are updated each year. When reviewing the IEFs, be sure to use the current year’s Income Eligibility Guidelines.
• If, during a monitoring review, it is found that children were incorrectly classified or the IEF has expired, the sponsor will have to pay back money to the SFSP. Therefore, it is very important that IEFs are reviewed carefully.
• Income information must be kept confidential.
• All IEFs must be kept for three federal fiscal years plus the current contract year after the date the final claim for the fiscal year was submitted. If audit findings have not been resolved, the IEF must be kept as long as necessary to resolve the issues raised by the audit.
• If a School Food Authority (SFA) is operating as a sponsor of the SFSP, IEFs collected during the previous school year may be used to determine an individual's eligibility in the SFSP. If direct certification was used for some of the IEFs, it is permissible that these applications remain part of the SFSP site eligibility data.