Team Nutrition Grants

 

Team Nutrition is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to support their Child Nutrition Programs through training and technical assistance for foodservice, nutrition education for children and their caregivers, and school and community support for healthy eating and physical activity. 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 Guidelines for Americans in Child Nutrition programs. Team Nutrition's goal is to improve children's lifelong eating and physical activity habits by using the principles of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the USDA Food Guidance System. FY 2017 Team Nutrition Training Grant Objectives In FY 2017, State agencies will be able to apply for a competitive Team Nutrition Training Grant. The objectives of the FY 2017 competitive grant include: 1. Assist schools/districts administering NSLP and SBP programs in providing: 1) appealing and nutritious school meals, 2) nutrition education, and 3) school environments that promote healthy eating; ultimately encouraging students to follow healthy eating patterns which align with the recommendations set forth in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 2. Improve the nutritional content of meals and snacks offered in child care centers and family day care homes participating in the CACFP to be consistent with the updated CACFP meal patterns and to assist participating children with following healthy eating patterns that align with the recommendations set forth in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In FY 2017, State agencies can apply for up to $500,000 in funding through the competitive grants program, and these grants will have a three year period of performance. In the FY 2019 Team Nutrition E-STAR Grant, States can apply for up to $2.5 for use during the four-year grant period of performance to support implementation and evaluation of an enhanced version of the Institute of Child Nutrition?s School Nutrition Strategies, Training, Action Plans, and Resources (E-STAR Program) training program. The objectives are: 1. To implement the E-STAR Program to increase school nutrition managers? and frontline staff? knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy related to school meal quality. 2. To engage school nutrition managers in implementing a goal-oriented action plan to improve school meal quality or students? perceptions of school meal quality. 3. To assess activities and impacts that result from participation in the E-STAR Program to inform best practices for training school nutrition professionals and increasing their capacity to improve school meal quality. In the FY2019 Team Nutrition Training Grant for Innovative State Programs, States can apply for up to $700,000 each for use during the three-year grant period of performance. Each grant will support States in expanding the reach of their existing training programs, so that more school nutrition professionals can receive training, particularly in rural or hard-to-reach areas. The objectives are: 1. Expand State-developed training programs to increase school nutrition professionals? knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy related to school meal quality. 2. Engage school nutrition professionals in implementing strategies to improve school meal quality or students? perceptions of school meal quality. 3. Increase State agency capacity to deliver training to school nutrition professionals. FY 2020 Team Nutrition Training Grant FNS will competitively award the FY2020 Team Nutrition Training Grants for School Meal Recipe Development to State agencies that administer the USDA?s National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program. State agencies applying for a FY 2020 Team Nutrition Training Grant may request up to $300,000 in funding for use during a two-year grant period of performance. These grants will support States in helping schools offer meals supported by recipes that utilize local agricultural products and reflect local food preparation practices and taste preferences. Using these grant funds, State agencies will build their capacity to develop standardized school meal recipes, a process that helps ensure that recipes yield consistent results in quality, quantity, and nutrition, while minimizing food waste and food costs. The objectives for the grant is: 1. Build State agency capacity and sustainable infrastructure to develop and evaluate standardized recipes in accordance with USDA guidance. 2. Develop appealing standardized recipes that utilize local agricultural products and meet USDA requirements. 3. Engage students and the school community in the process of developing standardized recipes. 4. Provide nutrition education to students on local agricultural products featured in the new school meal recipes.

General information about this opportunity
Last Known Status
Active
Program Number
10.574
Federal Agency/Office
Food and Nutrition Service, Department of Agriculture
Type(s) of Assistance Offered
B - Project Grants; Z - Salaries and Expenses
Program Accomplishments
Not applicable.
Authorization
Team Nutrition Training Grants are authorized under Public Law 111-296, which amended Section 19 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
Who is eligible to apply/benefit from this assistance?
Applicant Eligibility
State agencies that administer the Child Nutrition, School Meal Programs (e.g., NSLP and SBP) may apply for one of the FY 2020 Team Nutrition Training Grant.
Beneficiary Eligibility
School decision makers, school food service staff, students, parents, teachers, childcare professionals, and educators.
Credentials/Documentation
FY 2017 Team Nutrition Training Grants State agencies must administer the Child Nutrition Programs (e.g., NSLP, SBP, CACFP). Applicants must prove ability to provide a competent experienced staff and other resources to assure adequate development, supervision and execution of Team Nutrition 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 agreement between USDA Food and Nutrition Service and the State agency is necessary before funds can be allocated. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program. FY 2017 Team Nutrition Training Grants In addition to the aforementioned credentials/documentation, in FY 2017 State agencies applying for a competitive Team Nutrition Training Grant had to include a social scientist as key project staff in their proposal. A letter of support and curriculum vitae (CV)/resume has to be included in the application package submitted to grants.gov. This social scientist should have experience in evaluating public health programs and will serve as the evaluation lead for the State's project. FY 2019 Team Nutrition Training Grants State agencies that administer the Child Nutrition School Meal Programs are eligible to apply. States must include a social scientist as key project staff in their proposal. A letter of support and curriculum vitae (CV)/resume has to be included in the application package submitted to grants.gov. This social scientist should have experience in evaluating public health programs and will serve as the evaluation lead for the State's project.
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. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applicants must submit a complete application to USDA Food and Nutrition Service via grants.gov by the deadline specified. FY 2015 (Competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants In FY 2015, State agencies were able to apply for up to $350,000 in competitive grants. The grant period of performance was two years (2015-2017). FY 2016 (Competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants In FY 2016, State agencies were able to apply for up to $500,000 in competitive grants. The grant period of performance was three years (2016-2019). FY 2017 Team Nutrition Training Grants In FY 2017, State agencies are able to apply for up to $500,000 in competitive grants. The grant period of performance is three years (2017-2020).
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. FY 2017, FY 2019, and FY 2020 Team Nutrition Training Grants Competitive grants are reviewed by a technical review panel composed of USDA Food and Nutrition Service 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.
Deadlines
January 27, 2020 to March 3, 2020 State agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program have until 11:59 PM ET on Friday, April 3, 2020, to apply for the grant. States may view the Request for Applications and apply online at Grants.gov. FNS will present an informational webinar on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, at 2:00pm ET to provide an overview of the Team Nutrition Training Grant funding opportunity, application requirements, and scoring criteria. This webinar is open to all who wish to participate. Information on how to register for this webinar is available at: https://usda-fns.webex.com/usda-fns/onstage/g.php?MTID=e58cfcf079124c4a768180b70b5b3be0e The deadline for State agencies to submit a letter of intent to apply is Friday, February 21, 2020.
Approval/Disapproval Decision Time
Once the application is received from the State agency, it is approximately 3 to 4 months before announcement of the Team Nutrition Training Grant awards.
Appeals
From 30 to 60 days.
Renewals
Not applicable for the TN Training Grants.
How are proposals selected?
Technical Review Criteria for the FY 2020 Team Nutrition Training Grants for School Meal Recipe Development, which are furnished to all applicants in the RFA package are used by the review panel to score and rank Team Nutrition Training Grant applications. Categories for the Team Nutrition Training Grants (both competitive and non-competitive) criteria are Recipe Standardization Approach, Value of Recipe Standardization, Student Education and Engagement, Project Management and Quality Assurance, and Budget Plan.
How may assistance be used?
Team Nutrition Training Grants provide discretionary funding to assist State agencies administering the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs (NSLP and SBP) in achieving the Team Nutrition 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 schools and institutions in NSLP and SBP following the established oversight procedure as well as the Guidance for Interpreting Cost Principles of Sub-Grants.
What are the requirements after being awarded this opportunity?
Reporting
Not applicable.
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
State agencies must maintain records as necessary to support the use of Team 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
FY 2017 Team Nutrition Training Grants The grant period of performance is three years within Federal fiscal years. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: by letter of credit. FY 2019(Competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants The grant period of performance for the Team Nutrition E-STAR Training Grant is four years within Federal fiscal years. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: by letter of credit. The grant period of performance for the Team Nutrition Training Grant for Innovative State Programs is three years within Federal fiscal years. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: by letter of credit. The grant period of performance for the Team Nutrition Training Grant for School Meal Recipe Development is two years within Federal fiscal years. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: by letter of credit. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Letter.
Who do I contact about this opportunity?
Regional or Local Office
See the FNS Regional Offices listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.
Headquarters Office
Cynthia Long
Food and Nutrition Service, 1320 Braddock Place 4th floor
Alexandria, VA 22314 US
Cindy.Long@usda.gov
Phone: 7033052590
Website Address
https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/team-nutrition-training-grants
Financial Information
Account Identification
12-3539-0-1-605
Obligations
(Salaries and Expenses) FY 19$8,000,000.00; FY 20 est $5,200,000.00; FY 21 FY 18$0.00; FY 17$5,311,436.00; FY 16$6,709,581.00; FY 15$5,643,324.00; -
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
State agencies applying for a FY 2020 Team Nutrition Training Grant may request up to $300,000 in funding for use during a two-year grant period of performance.
Regulations, Guidelines and Literature
Refer to 2 CFR Part 200
Examples of Funded Projects
Fiscal Year 2015 These have not been awarded as of August 2015. When the grants are awarded, examples of funded projects will be available on the Team Nutrition web site. FY 2014 (Competitive and Non-competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants On August 21, 2014, the FY14 Team Nutrition Training Grants were awarded to 20 State agencies. Some of the FY2014 grantees will be using their funds to increase HealthierUS School Challenge applications, provide trainings on local school wellness policies, partner with other organizations to provide nutrition education to students, create online and in-person trainings for school food service staff, increase Smarter Lunchroom strategies in the school cafeteria, and assist with menu planning in child care settings that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). A summary of each, individual State activities can be found on the Team Nutrition web site at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/2014-tn-grants. FY 2015 (Competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants On September 2, 2015, the FY15 Team Nutrition Training Grants were awarded to 19 State agencies. A summary of individual state activities can be found on the Team Nutrition web site at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/2015-training-grants. The two largest competitive awards for FY 2015 were to Michigan ($349,984) and Kansas ($349,964). Michigan Team Nutrition will leverage support from the Michigan Healthier School Systems Change partner committee to develop, evaluate, and sustain an innovative statewide technical assistance and coaching system targeting K-12 schools. Through this system, 25 educators will be deployed to assist schools in creating student nutrition advocacy teams, adopting Smarter Lunchroom strategies, and sustaining healthy school environments. Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) will assist schools in offering a broader selection of foods to their students and will provide schools with a variety of Smart Snacks-compliant, made-from-scratch recipes, all in conjunction with implementing Smarter Lunchrooms strategies. KSDE will also deliver Team Nutrition’s Serving Up MyPlate: A Yummy Curriculum and Discover MyPlate to approximately15,000 elementary students, while conducting the Smarter Mealtimes and Power Panther Preschool programs with Child and Adult Care Food Program sponsors, providers, and children. To promote wellness, KSDE will sponsor 150 Family Fun, Food & Fitness events and will host two Power Up School Wellness summits. FY 2016 (Competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants After awards are accepted on September 15, 2016, examples of projects funded with FY 2016 (Competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants will be made available at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/2016-training-grants
Fiscal Year 2016 FY 2016 Team Nutrition Training Grants were awarded on September 6, 2016 and are awaiting State acceptance by September 15, 2016. FY 2016 (Competitive) Team Nutrition Training Grants On September 6, 2016, the FY16 Team Nutrition Training Grants were awarded to 14 State agencies. A summary of individual state activities can be found on the Team Nutrition Web site at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/2016-training-grants. The two largest competitive awards for FY 2016 were to Colorado ($499,707) and Maryland ($499,821). The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Child and Adult Care Food Program (Colorado CACFP) will develop and implement Colorado CHOP: Cooking up Healthy Options with Plants, a geographically targeted farm to child care program designed to increase children’s consumption of fresh, seasonal, and local fruits and vegetables. Colorado CACFP will collaborate with local stakeholders to offer a three tiered intervention that incorporates culinary trainings, nutrition education using Team Nutrition’s Grow It, Try It, Like It! kit, and gardening activities. Colorado CACFP will assess the effectiveness of grant activity components by comparing the following interventions: 1) one-day group culinary training of 100 CACFP providers and 25 partners alone; 2) one-day group culinary training and garden-based nutrition education sub-grants in 25 day care center and homes; and 3) one-day group culinary training, garden-based nutrition education sub-grants, and culinary coaching in 16 child care centers and homes. Colorado CACFP will collect evaluation data using the Minnesota Department of Education’s Mealtime Assessment for Child Care Centers Scorecard, the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self- Assessment for Child Care (Go NAP SACC), the Oregon’s Harvest for Healthy Kids Food Preference Assessment, the Fruit and Vegetable Inventory Tool, and the Washington State University Master Gardener Program Evaluation Tool. Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) will develop and implement local training and technical assistance for school nutrition professionals from 16 schools on school food service operations, culinary skills, and Smarter Lunchrooms strategies. MSDE will develop a nutrition education toolkit for secondary schools and train Health/PE teachers from 16 schools to use them. Students and parents will participant in school meal surveys and food taste testing activities to identify ways to improve school meal offerings. A Parent and Family Wellness Toolkit will be developed and disseminated to support local wellness policy implementation at the school level. MSDE will evaluate grant activities by measuring changes in school meal participation rates, students’ selection of dark green and red/orange vegetables and beans/peas at school lunch, and implementation of local school wellness policies through the Maryland Wellness Policies and Practices Project survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s School Health Index.
Fiscal Year 2017 The Request for Applications for the FY 2017 Team Nutrition Training Grants was posted on grants.gov and the Team Nutrition web site on March 6, 2017.

 



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