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DATE: | Nov. 28, 2018 | |
POLICY MEMO: | SP-04-2019 | |
SUBJECT: | Fiscal Year 2019 Administrative Review and Training (ART) Grant RFA | |
TO: | Regional Directors Special Nutrition Programs All Regions |
State Directors Child Nutrition Programs All States |
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service is pleased to announce the release of the fiscal year 2019 request for applications (RFA) to invite state agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program to apply for FY 2019 Administrative Review and Training (ART) Grants. FNS has up to $8.5 million available to fund grants to state agencies to support oversight and training efforts to reduce administrative errors and improve school meal program accountability. This announcement describes the FY 2019 ART Grant process.
The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (PL 108-265) amended Section 7 of the Child Nutrition Act to provide funding for states to be used for administrative reviews and training of local educational agencies (LEAs). The funding is intended for program improvement activities focused on LEAs which have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error. To assist state agencies in achieving program improvements, the USDA FNS has up to $8.5 million available in FY 2019 to fund ART grants.
The purpose of this grant funding is to decrease administrative errors in those LEAs and schools identified by state agencies as having operational errors or where errors are likely to arise. For FY 2019, state agencies should focus on one or more of the following areas in developing their ART grant applications:
FNS is offering two types of ART grants:
State agencies that administer the NSLP and SBP may apply for the ART grant funding. The attached Request for Application (RFA) and application materials outline the requirements to which a state must adhere in order to be considered for funding. State agencies may apply for either type of grant, planning or implementation, but not for both.
Only one grant application will be accepted from a state agency in response to this solicitation. FNS will consider and evaluate all proposals using the criteria described in the RFA and award funds for both Planning and Implementation grant types on a competitive basis.
To apply for this funding opportunity, applicants may download the grant application forms (SF-424, SF-424A, SF-424B and SF-LLL) from the grants.gov website at www.grants.gov. Also, these required application forms and the RFA, with appendices, may be downloaded from the FNS grants website at http://www.fns.usda.gov/grant-opportunities or the FNS child nutrition programs' PartnerWeb at https://www.partnerweb.usda.gov. The RFA appendices include templates for completing the narrative proposal for the application process: Appendix B for Planning grant proposals and Appendix C for Implementation grant proposals. The narrative templates are attached to the RFA and available in Microsoft Word format on the FNS grants website and on PartnerWeb. The Word versions are provided for convenience so that applicants can type directly into the template format to complete the application narratives.
Applications must be submitted electronically via the grants.gov website at www.grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 5, 2019; Applications received by any other means or after this date and time will not be considered. The grants.gov website will send a confirmation notice to the applicant to confirm that the application has been accepted by the system. Upon receipt of the notice, the applicant must then send an email to notify the FNS grant office that they have received a confirmation notice from grants.gov that the application was received.
We strongly recommend that state agencies submit the online application at least one week before the application deadline in case there are problems with the website. All questions regarding the RFA and electronic submission should be referred to FNS grants office. If you require immediate technical assistance as it pertains to grants.gov, please contact the grants.gov helpline at 1-800-518-4726 or email the help desk at support@grants.gov.
Within approximately three weeks of this RFA's publication, FNS will conduct a webinar with all state agencies and FNS regional offices to review the RFA and address questions regarding the application process. Notification of the webinar date, time, and call-in information will be communicated to state agencies via the FNS regional offices and the CN PartnerWeb.
We look forward to receiving your applications for funding.
Mark Porter Acting Director Grants and Fiscal Policy Division |
Sarah E. Smith-Holmes Director Program Monitoring and Operational Support Division |
The contents of this guidance document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.