Evaluation of the Community Eligibility Provision Program in Texas - Rabia Telli

Abstract: Efforts to eliminate food insecurity among school-aged children have intensified since the 2000s. In this regard, the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 specifies school meals’ nutritional standards and introduces a new provision allowing schools meeting the eligibility requirements to provide free meals to all students. This study aims to evaluate the effect of this new Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program. I empirically investigate the extent to which the program influences school meal participation and students’ behavioral and academic outcomes using individual-level administrative data sets from Texas and a synthetic difference-in-differences strategy. I show that CEP increases per-student breakfast consumption by 10% and lunch consumption by 5% and improves reading and math test scores. However, most schools implementing CEP have another type of free meal provision before CEP, such as Universal Free Breakfast and Provision 2. I find that presence of these substitute programs biases the effect of CEP. After accounting for such program substitution, implementing CEP increases per-student breakfast consumption by 40% and lunch consumption by 10%. In addition, I provide evidence for an improved suspension rate for students from schools that never implemented alternative free meal provisions. Overall, CEP generates smaller test score gains for the students in these schools.