Baltimore, Maryland (September 15, 2022) – The Maryland Department of Education will provide access to free or discounted school meals for economically disadvantaged students this year through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Directly Qualified Medicaid (DCM) Pilot Project is increasing.

The State of Maryland is invited by the USDA to participate in the Medicaid Matching Pilot Demonstration, which will expand the Maryland Direct Authentication System (MDCS) to include electronic matching with Medicaid data for the 2022-2023 school year (SY). It is one of seven newly authorized states.

Learn more about the Medicaid process here. https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/direct-certification-medicaid-demonstration-project.

Benefits of this initiative, which launched on July 1, 2022, include:

• Increase access to nutritious school meals by identifying income-eligible students through Medicaid. These students are not eligible for a completely free meal or otherwise cannot apply for meal benefits by completing the Home Meal Benefit Application (MBA).
• The process of identifying eligible children for free or discounted meals is streamlined, reducing the administrative burden on Local Education Agencies (LEAs).
• Relaxation of requirements for households to complete an MBA. This is especially important for SY 22-23 as the LEA returns to normal school feeding operations.
• An increase in the number of students directly qualified for free meals could have a positive impact on the LEA’s decision to expand its Community Eligibility Code (CEP).

“We believe that giving more children access to nutritious meals during school hours will provide them with a fair and successful education,” said Maryland Superintendent Mohamed Chowdhury. “We thank all of our state agency partners and are excited about the launch of this partnership. We will be able to provide additional assistance more efficiently to those who need it most, without needing assistance.”

With Maryland’s education blueprint, House Bill 1300, passing in early 2021, Medicaid will be required as a matching factor to directly prove that children are eligible for free meals. I was. In November 2021, the USDA accepted Maryland’s application with his July 1, 2022 start date. MSDE OSCNP has begun working with the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) as the lead agency to develop data sharing agreements and processes. The project also includes partnerships with the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange (MHBE) and the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS).

USDA began allowing states to use Medicaid as a direct credential in the 2012-2013 school year. Currently, 26 states across the country are participating in demonstration projects. Through these projects, USDA found that over 1 million students qualified for free meals and 260,000 students qualified for discounted meals during the 2017-2018 school year.