Community Eligibility Key to Addressing Childhood Hunger in Maryland

Media Contact:

Colleen Barton
703-203-7843
cbarton@frac.org

Statement attributable to LaMonika Jones, director, Maryland Hunger Solutions 

GAITHERSBURG, July 1, 2025 – The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is fueling the health and learning of more children across Maryland, according to a new report from Maryland Hunger Solutions’ parent organization, the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). Community Eligibility: The Key to Hunger-Free Schools — School Year 2024–2025 reveals a continued upward trend in Maryland’s adoption of the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows high-need schools to offer breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge.

During the 2024–2025 school year, 63.8 percent of eligible schools in Maryland adopted CEP, with over 392,000 students enrolled in 700 schools. This is an increase of 119,000 students and 49 schools over the last year.

Each year, CEP has reached more students in Maryland, resulting in reduced hunger and stigma in our schools. We’re moving in the right direction, but there are still far too many eligible schools that are not participating in CEP, and current threats to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) jeopardize the progress Maryland has made. Congress is looking to cut SNAP, a direct link between eligible children and free school meals. Fewer students in SNAP-participating households mean fewer schools would be eligible for community eligibility.

We can’t let that happen.

Without CEP, schools face the burden of processing school meal forms, collecting meal fees, and enforcing payment of school meal debt. Innovative service models such as breakfast in the classroom and other alternative breakfast models could also be harder to implement.

Maryland Hunger Solutions calls on Congress to protect and strengthen both CEP and SNAP, so children have access to the food they need at school and at home, and work towards building a nation free from hunger. The well-being of our children, families, and schools depends on it.

With uncertainty at the federal level, it is even more important that the Maryland General Assembly provide funding to support schools’ abilities to implement CEP and work toward passing universal school meals legislation so every child, no matter their household’s income, can have access to school meals at no charge to fuel their health and learning.

Children can’t learn on an empty stomach. Our policymakers have the tools to fight child hunger and support their health and learning. Strengthening CEP is one of the most proven ways to do it.

Read the report.

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About Maryland Hunger Solutions
Maryland Hunger Solutions, an initiative of the Food Research & Action Center, works to end hunger and improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of Maryland residents.

About the Food Research & Action Center  
The Food Research & Action Center improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter)FacebookInstagram, Threads, and Bluesky.