Team Nutrition Grants (10.574)
Program
10.574 Team Nutrition Grants
Federal Agency
FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Authorization
National School Lunch Act, Section 6(a)(3) Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1996; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1997, Public Law 104-280; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1998, Public Law 105-86; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1999, Public Law 105-277; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2000, Public Law 106-78; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2001, Public Law 106-387. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2002, Public Law 107-229 for 2003.
Program Number
10.574
Last Known Status
Active
Objectives
Team Nutrition Training Grants for Healthy School Meals have been identified in USDA's national Strategic Plan for Training and Technical Assistance as one of the anchor delivery systems for supporting the implementation of USDA's nutrition requirements and the Dietary Guideline for Americans in school meals. Team Nutrition's (TN) goal is to improve children's¿ lifelong eating and physical activity habits by using the principles of the dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Food Guide Pyramid. TN Training Grants offer funding to state agencies to establish or enhance sustainable infrastructures for implementing TN using three behavior-focused strategies: 1) provide training and technical assistance to child nutrition food service professionals to enable them to prepare and serve nutritious meals that appeal to students; 2) promote nutrition curriculum and education in schools through multiple communication channels (i.e., food services initiatives, classroom activities, school wide events, home activities, community programs and events, and media events and coverage) to reinforce positive nutrition messages and encourage students to make healthy food physical activity choices as part of a healthy lifestyle; 3) build school and community support for creating healthy school environments that are conducive to healthy eating and physical activity.
Types of Assistance
Project Grants.
Uses and Use Restrictions
Team Nutrition Training Grants provide start-up money to deliver training programs based on one or more of TN's three behavior-oriented strategies. States may award sub-grants to local school districts and/or schools based on 2 pm established criteria oversight procedures.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicant Eligibility
State agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program and/or Child and Adult Care Food Program may apply for a TN Training Grant. States may apply individually, or apply as a coalition within their State if there is an alternate State agency, or may establish a network and apply as a coalition of States.
Beneficiary Eligibility
School and child care decision makers and caregivers, school child care food service staff and children, parents & teachers.
Credentials/Documentation
State agencies must administer the National School Lunch Program and/or Child and Adult Care Food Program. Applicants must prove ability to provide a competent experienced staff and other resources to assure adequate development, supervision and execution of TN Training Grant activities. In addition, applicants are required to submit a written proposal which includes a description of the training issue or issues to be addressed, the proposed project approach, the rationale for it, specific program objectives, activities and budget. A properly executed Federal/State Agreement between the Food and Nutrition Service and the State agency is necessary before funds can be allocated.
Application and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
State agencies are furnished with a copy of the Request for Applications (RFA) package on how to apply for a TN Training Grant. Additionally the complete RFA is posted on the FNS web site. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure
Applicants must submit a complete application to the Food and Nutrition Service by the deadline specified.
Award Procedure
All applications that meet the published deadline for submission will be screened for completeness and conformity to the requirements as announced in the RFA's packaged. Grants are awarded by a competitive process via a review panel composed of Food and Nutrition Service staff which convenes to determine the technical merit of each grant application, provide a numerical score and make final recommendations.
Deadlines
The deadlines for the TN Training Grants are specified in the Request for Applications package.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Appeals
None.
Renewals
Fiscal Year 2002 TN Training Grants have been mandated by Congress.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
If selected for funding State agencies will be funded at the level requested after approval of the budget. There are no matching requirements.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
1999 Grants: August 31, 1999 - August 31, 2001; 2000 Grants: September 1, 2000 - December 31, 2001; 2001 Grants: September 2001 - September 30, 2003; 2002 Grants: September 1, 2002 - September 30, 2004. 2003 Grants - September 30, 2003 - September 30, 2005.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports
Specified progress and financial status reports and a final project report are to be submitted to the Food and Nutrition Service as stated in the Federal/State TN Training Grant Agreement.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133, "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations," State governments that expend Federal financial assistance of $300,000 or more within any fiscal year shall have either a single audit or (in certain cases) a program specific audit made for that year. Audits may be conducted less frequently under conditions specified in A-133.
Records
State agencies must maintain records as necessary to support the use of TN Training Grant funds in accordance with the Grant Agreement. Such records must be retained for a period of 3 years after the date of submission of the final report for the fiscal year to which the records pertain, except that if audit findings have not been resolved, the records shall be retained beyond the three year period as long as required for the resolution of the issues raised by the audit.
Program Accomplishments
The TN Training Grants were first awarded in 1995. Through these grants, States have conducted over 2,500 workshops, training over 98,000 food service staff with an impact on more than 7 million children. In 2003, 36 applications were received and 21 State agencies were selected for funding totaling $4,025,387.
Financial Information
Account Identification
12-3539-0-1-605.
Obligations
(Grants) FY 02 $4,751,789; FY 03 $4,025,387; and FY 04 est $4,000,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$78,541 to $200,000; $189,631.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
7 CFR Part 3016, 7 CFR Part 3017, 7 CFR Part 3018.
Related Programs
None.
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
See the Food and Nutrition Service Regional Offices listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.
Headquarters Office
Grants Management Division, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alexandria, VA 22302. Telephone: (703) 305-2848. Contact: Lisa Johnson, Grants Management Specialist.
Web Site Address
Examples of Funded Projects
The 1998 and 1999 TN Training Grants produced innovative projects such as the development of an interactive nutrition education and training web site that is accessible to students, teachers, school food service personnel and parents; development of training curricula for teachers to incorporate nutrition education activities into their lessons; and providing training for school districts on integrating TN with school health programs. The 1999 TN Demonstration Projects were awarded two-year funding to help FNS develop models of firmly established TN initiatives that will be appealing and helpful to States across the country. The 2000 grantees were awarded one-year funding to provide training to school and child care decision makers on The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2000. The 2001 grantees were awarded funding to focus all or part of the two- year grant on improving the school nutrition environment, using USDA's resource kit, "Changing the Scene: Improving the School Nutrition Environment: A Guide to Local Action." The 2002 Grants was also two-year grants and allow states to continue to implement the three team nutrition strategies and to continue efforts to improve the school nutrition environment. The 2003 Grants were recently awarded funding to focus on preventing childhood obesity by improving healthy eating and physical activity in schools, childcare centers, home and community through collaboration efforts with existing state and local organizations and partners.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
Technical Review Criteria, which are furnished to all applicants in the Request for Applications package are used by the review panel to score and rank TN Training Grant applications.
