Child Nutrition Discretionary Grants Limited Availability

 

National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grants are awarded via a competitive grant process to school food authorities giving priority to high need schools (i.e. schools in underserved areas, schools with limited access to other resources, and age of food service equipment) where 50 percent or more of the enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced meals. Administrative Review and Training (ART) grants are awarded to State agencies to conduct additional administrative reviews of selected local educational agencies and to provide funding for state agencies to be used for oversight and training of administrative personnel on application, certification, verification, meal counting, and meal claiming procedures. Direct Certification Improvement Grants have been previously awarded to assist States agencies in improving their direct certification processes and rates. Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children demonstrations develop and test innovative methods of providing access to food for children during the summer months when schools are not in regular session to reduce or eliminate the food insecurity and hunger of children, and improve the nutritional status of children. Participating States and Tribal Nations provide Summer EBT food benefits on debit cards to eligible low-income families with school-age children during the summer months, giving them more resources to use at retail food stores. Grants to Improve Health and Nutrition were previously available to State agencies for projects that were aimed at improving the health and wellness of children in child care settings. School Breakfast Expansion grants were previously available to eligible State agencies to provide sub-grants to local educational agencies for qualifying schools to establish, maintain, or expand the School Breakfast Program.

General information about this opportunity
Last Known Status
Active
Program Number
10.579
Federal Agency/Office
Food and Nutrition Service, Department of Agriculture
Type(s) of Assistance Offered
B - Project Grants
Program Accomplishments
Fiscal Year 2016 ART Grants: No current data available. DC Grants: 2 States, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. USDA awarded Equipment grants to 54 State agencies. USDA awarded five (5) ART grants to the following states: Colorado, Florida, Idaho, New Jersey and Nevada USDA awarded six (6) DC grants to the following states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, California, District of Columbia and Maryland. USDA awarded School Equipment grants to State agencies
Fiscal Year 2018 (Refer to the USDA FNS Child Nutrition Programs website) Direct Certification Grants: https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/2018-direct-certification-improvement-grant-summaries Administrative Review and Training (ART) Grants: https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/fy2016-method-ii-art-grant-summaries NSLP Equipment Grants: https://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/2016/003416 Summer EBT: https://www.fns.usda.gov/ops/summer-food-children-demonstrations and https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/ops/sebtcfinalreport.pdf
Fiscal Year 2019 Refer to the USDA FNS Child Nutrition Programs website: For ART Grant Summaries: https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/fy%202019-art-grant-summaries
Authorization
42 U.S.C. 1751, 1758, 1759a,1761, 1765, 1766, 1769, 1772, 1773, 1779
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1751, 1758, 1759a,1761, 1765, 1766, 1769, 1772, 1773, 1779; School Breakfast Program (SBP); Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, Public Laws 108-265, 104-193, 100-435, 99-661, 97-35; Special Milk Program (SMP); Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended; Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); 89 Stat. 522-525, Summer Food Service Program (SFSP); Public Law 111-5. The 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Act (Public Law 111-80). The Further Continuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act of 2017 (P.L. 114-254). Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141) Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, (Public Law 116-6)
Who is eligible to apply/benefit from this assistance?
Applicant Eligibility
Determined by the legislation authorizing the grants.
Beneficiary Eligibility
Determined by the legislation authorizing the grants.
Credentials/Documentation
Not applicable.
What is the process for applying and being award this assistance?
Pre-Application Procedure
Preapplication coordination is not applicable.
Application Procedure
2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. For ART and DC grants, application package must be submitted electronically via http://www.grants.gov. Note: NSLP Equipment grants are not submitted via grants.gov.
Award Procedure
Upon receipt of an application from an interested party a review is performed by the agency for eligibility and sufficiency of the Request For Applications (RFA) requirements. Subsequently, all acceptable applications are objectively reviewed by a technical panel according to established criteria set forth in the RFA. The panel makes award recommendations based on the scoring results. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) selecting official then makes the final award decisions.
Deadlines
Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines
Approval/Disapproval Decision Time
Selection of applicants for a grant award can take from 3 to 5 months depending on the number of applications that are received.
Appeals
Refer to the RFA for information.
Renewals
Refer to the RFA for information regarding renewals.
How are proposals selected?
Applications are initially reviewed for eligibility and sufficiency, as defined in the RFA. Those applications that meet the criteria are reviewed by a technical panel based on specific criteria outlined in the RFA. The panel makes recommendations to the selecting official based on scoring results. The selecting official makes the final award decisions.
How may assistance be used?
Assistance can be used for specific activities authorized by Child Nutrition legislation or regulation. In the past this has included grants to state agencies to assist local educational agencies in improving application, certification and verification, and meal counting and meal claiming procedures; grants to State agencies to improve their direct certification processes and rates; and grants to improve program access, health, and wellness of children. There may be restrictions, as required by legislation or regulation. Less than one percent of Child Nutrition funds are set aside for discretionary grants.
What are the requirements after being awarded this opportunity?
Reporting
Not applicable.
Auditing
2 CFR Part 400: USDA's implementing regulation of 2 CFR Part 200 "Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards"
Records
State agencies must maintain records as necessary to support the use of 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 must be retained beyond the 3-year period as long as required for the resolution of the issues raised by the audit.
Other Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
The period of performance of the grants vary based on project plan. Grant period of performance is generally from 1 year to 4 years. Extensions to the period of performance must be approved by FNS. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Letter.
Who do I contact about this opportunity?
Regional or Local Office
See the Food and Nutrition Service Regional Offices listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.
Headquarters Office
Cynthia Long
Food and Nutrition Service, 3101 Park Center Drive Room 628
Alexandria, VA 22302 US
Cindy.Long@fns.usda.gov
Phone: 703-305-2590
Website Address
http://www.fns.usda.gov
Financial Information
Account Identification
12-3539-0-1-605
Obligations
(Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 18$30,000,000.00; FY 19 est $30,000,000.00; FY 20 est $30,000,000.00; FY 17$30,000,000.00; FY 16$30,000,000.00; - School Lunch (NSLP) Equipment Grants(Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 18$2,011,426.00; FY 19 est $0.00; FY 20 est $0.00; FY 17$0.00; FY 16$1,550,000.00; - Direct Certification Grants (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 18$4,000,000.00; FY 19 est $4,000,000.00; FY 20 est $4,000,000.00; FY 17$4,000,000.00; FY 16$4,000,000.00; - Administrative Review and Training Grants(Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 18$0.00; FY 19 est $0.00; FY 20 est $0.00; FY 17$0.00; FY 16$0.00; - Improve Health and Nutrition - no grants were awarded for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 or expected for 2020.(Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 18$0.00; FY 19 est $0.00; FY 20 est $0.00; FY 17$0.00; FY 16$0.00; - School Breakfast Expansion, no grants were awarded for 2020. The last time grants were awarded was 2013.(Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 18$22,844,000.00; FY 19 est $22,957,000.00; FY 20 Estimate Not Available FY 17$25,181,000.00; - Summer EBT for Children (SEBTC)
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
For FY 2019, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grants ranged from $36,771 to $3,632,279; the grant average was $555,556. For FY 2019, the Administrative Review and Training Grants awarded $1.2 million and ranged from $149,776 to $2,409,924; the grant average was $1,103,604.71. There are two types of awards: ART Planning Grants for awards up to $150,000 with grant periods of up to one year; and ART Implementation Grants for awards up to $3,000,000 with grant periods of one to three years. For FY 2018, there were three Direct Certification Grants awarded ranging from $86,160 to $970,580. Grant average was $670,475. For Summer 2018, $1.2 million was awarded in late FY2017 to two additional Summer EBT for Children Grants in addition to $30.3 million awarded to seven grants in March 2017. Grants ranged from $800,000 to $12.3 million.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
7 CFR, as applicable. Also, determined by the legislation authorizing the grants.
Examples of Funded Projects
Fiscal Year 2017 Administrative Review and Training (ART) Grants: https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/fy2016-method-ii-art-grant-summaries NSLP Equipment Grants: https://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/2016/003416 Summer EBT: https://www.fns.usda.gov/ops/summer-food-children-demonstrations and https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/ops/sebtcfinalreport.pdf
Fiscal Year 2018 Direct Certification Grants - https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/2018-direct-certification-improvement-grant-summaries
Fiscal Year 2019 Administrative Review and Training Grants - https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/fy%202019-art-grant-summaries

 


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