Team Nutrition Grants (10.574)

Program

10.574 Team Nutrition Grants

Federal Agency

Agency: Department of Agriculture
Office: Food and Nutrition Service

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 System. 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 funding to assist State agencies in achieving the TN goal of improving children's lifelong eating and physical activity habits using the most current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. States may award sub-grants to local school districts following the established oversight procedure as well as the Guidance for Interpreting Cost Principles of Sub-Grants. Team Nutrition Training Grants provide funding to assist State agencies in achieving the TN goal of improving children's lifelong eating and physical activity habits using the most current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

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 two or more different States.

Beneficiary Eligibility

School and child care decision makers and caregivers, school and child care food service staff, and children, parents and teachers/educators.

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 addon 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. OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program.

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 Team Nutrition web site. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure

OMB Circular No. A-102 applies to this program. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. 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 package. Grants are awarded by a competitive process via a technical 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 recommendations to selecting officials.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

Once the application is received from the State agency, it is approximately 3 months before announcement of the TN Training Grant awards.

Appeals

The solicitation will provide information on appeals.

Renewals

The solicitation will provide information on renewals.

Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements

This program has no statutory formula.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this program.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this program.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

Within the Federal Fiscal Year. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: by letter of credit.

Post Assistance Requirements

Reports

Audits

In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. 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 $500,000 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

Not Applicable.

Financial Information

Account Identification

12-3539-0-1-605.

Obligations

(Salaries) FY 08 $4,968,619; FY 09 est $5,846,941; FY 10 est $6,000,000

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

Unavailable.

Regulations, Guidelines and Literature

7 CFR Part 3015, 7 CFR Part 3016, 7 CFR Part 3017, 7 CFR Part 3018, 7 CFR Part 3019, 7 CFR Part 3021 and 7 CFR Part 3052.

Related Programs

Not Applicable.

Information Contacts

Regional or Local Office

See Regional Agency Offices. See the Food and Nutrition Service Regional Offices listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.

Headquarters Office

Lisa Johnson Food & Nutrition Service, Financial Management
3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302 Email: Lisa.Johnson@fns.usda.gov Phone: 703-305-2848 Fax: 703-605-0363

Web Site Address

http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/grants.html.

Examples of Funded Projects

Not Applicable.

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.