School Nutrition Training Grants

 

School Nutrition Training Grant for Allied Professional Organizations funds will assist allied professional organizations in planning, developing, promoting, delivering, and evaluating a workforce development and training initiative to provide skills-based training and technical assistance for school nutrition professionals to strengthen school meals program operators competencies, knowledge, and skills within eight (8) key functional areas related to school nutrition operations. Topics include: personnel management; sanitation, safety, and security; facility and property management; marking, communication, and customer service; procurement and inventory management; nutrition and meal management; financial management and accountability; and meal service and preparation. School nutrition professionals are school nutrition program employees at the district or school level who are administering or operating the school meals programs such as the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), or who contract with a food service management company to provide school meals and manage aspects of school food service operations. In general, there are three job categories related to school food service operations: directors, managers/supervisors, and staff.

General information about this opportunity
Last Known Status
Active
Program Number
10.532
Federal Agency/Office
Food and Nutrition Service, Department of Agriculture
Type(s) of Assistance Offered
B - Project Grants
Program Accomplishments
Not applicable.
Authorization
Public Law 115-141
The School Nutrition Training Grant for Allied Professional Organizations by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141).
Who is eligible to apply/benefit from this assistance?
Applicant Eligibility
Competition for this grant is open to all national allied professional organizations operating in the United States to which school nutrition professionals are eligible to join as a member, which provides membership representation for school nutrition professionals, and whose mission seeks to further the school nutrition field and the interests of school nutrition professionals. Applicants must clearly describe how their organization(s) meets the definition of allied professional organization, as stated above, and submit organization bylaws which clearly define the scope of members. All non-profit organizations must include their 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) determination letter issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Beneficiary Eligibility
Grant funds will ultimately benefit school food service program staff, school nutrition personnel, school nutrition professionals, school nutrition employees, school nutrition directors, school nutrition managers/supervisors, front-line staff through a job-skills and workforce development training.
Credentials/Documentation
Competition for this grant is open to all national allied professional organizations operating in the United States to which school nutrition professionals are eligible to join as a member, which provides membership representation for school nutrition professionals, and whose mission seeks to further the school nutrition field and the interests of school nutrition professionals. Applicants must clearly describe how their organization(s) meets the definition of allied professional organization, as stated above, and submit organization bylaws which clearly define the scope of members. All non-profit organizations must include their 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) determination letter issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
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. Under the grant announcement, allied professional organizations (as defined in the RFA) may apply for the competitive School Nutrition Training Grant for Allied Professional Organizations. Eligible applicants should access the RFA on grants.gov, and comprehensively and thoroughly review the RFA components and comply with all stated requirements.
Award Procedure
Competitive grants are reviewed by a technical review panel comprised of USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) staff which convenes to determine the technical merit of each grant application, provide a numerical score for each application, and make recommendations to selecting officials. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: by letter of credit. The RFA includes application content requirements, screening requirements, and format requirements. The grant will be awarded through a competitive process and through a fully executed agreement with FNS once approval is made by program and grants and fiscal management divisions.
Deadlines
November 26, 2018 Letter of Intent Due: November 26, 2018 January 28, 2019 Application Due Date: 11:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time (EST), January 28, 2019
Approval/Disapproval Decision Time
It is anticipated that the grant will be awarded in Spring 2019.
Appeals
From 30 to 60 days. Debriefing requests available from 30-60 days.
Renewals
Not applicable.
How are proposals selected?
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. The following selection criteria will be used to evaluate applications for the RFA. Training Initiative Approach and Evaluation Potential (30 points); Curricula, Strategies, and Activities (15 points); Target Populations, Reach, and Partnerships (10 points); Staffing Plan (15 points); Management Plan (15 points); and Budget and Budget Narrative (15 points).
How may assistance be used?
School Nutrition Training Grant for Allied Professional Organizations funds will assist allied professional organizations in planning, developing, promoting, delivering, and evaluating a workforce development and training initiative to provide skills-based training and technical assistance for school nutrition professionals to strengthen school meals program operators’ competencies, knowledge, and skills within one or more of the eight (8) key functional areas. The eight identified functional areas that applicants may select from when developing and delivering the workforce development and training initiative as part of this grant are as follows: • Meal Preparation and Service • Nutrition and Meal Management • Marketing, Communication, and Customer Service • Procurement and Inventory Management • Financial Management and Accountability • Personnel Management • Sanitation, Safety, and Security • Facility and Property Management For more information on the Competencies, Knowledge, and Skills for School Nutrition Managers, see the full resource here: https://theicn.org/icn-resources-a-z/ckssnmanagers21.
What are the requirements after being awarded this opportunity?
Reporting
Performance Reports: The recipient will be responsible for managing and monitoring the progress of the grant project activities and performance. The grant terms and conditions will indicate the reporting schedule for submitting project performance/progress reports to FNS. Any additional reporting requirements will be identified in the award terms and conditions, including results of the grant project. Grantees must also be willing to participate in quarterly conference calls to discuss progress with FNS. Quarterly Reports Quarterly progress reports and quarterly financial reports must be submitted to FNS. The Grantee is responsible for obtaining the necessary information from the other partners to complete this report. The Grantee is required to utilize FNS-developed reporting templates. Quarterly progress reports must provide a description of the activities conducted during the reporting period, major accomplishments with completion dates and budget, deviations from the proposed plan, difficulties encountered, solutions developed to overcome difficulties, and major planned activities for the next quarter. Within 90 days after the end of the grant period, the Grantee will be required to submit (1) a set of final materials (508-compliant) developed with grant funds (e.g. training curricula, data collection tools, and (2) a Final Report to FNS (no more than 20 pages in length) that includes the information specified in the RFA.
Auditing
In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, non-Federal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.503.
Records
Allied Professional Organizations must maintain records as necessary to support the use of School Nutrition 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 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 School Nutrition Training Grant for Allied Professional Organizations will have a period of performance of four (4) years. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Letter.
Who do I contact about this opportunity?
Regional or Local Office
See Regional Agency Offices. See the FNS Regional Offices listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog
Headquarters Office
Melissa Rothstein
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22302 US
melissa.rothstein@usda.gov
Phone: 7033464484
Financial Information
Account Identification
12-3539-0-1-605
Obligations
(Project Grants (Special)) FY 22$0.00; FY 23 est $0.00; FY 24 est $0.00; FY 21$0.00; FY 20$0.00; FY 19$2,000,000.00; FY 18$0.00; FY 17$0.00; -
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
Under this grant opportunity, one award of up to $2 million is competitively available to eligible entities. The period of performance has been extended through FY 2023.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
Refer to 2 CFR Part 200
Examples of Funded Projects
Not applicable.

 



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