Revision to the Report of the SFSP for Children (FNS-418) and the Addition of SSO to the Report of School Program Operations (FNS-10)

This memorandum and attachments provide information on the revised Form FNS-418: Report of the SFSP for Children that is used to report data on meals served in the SFSP, and the revised Form FNS-10: Report of School Program Operations that is used to report data on meals served in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP)¹ .

On Dec. 29, 2023, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published “Implementing Provisions from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023: Establishing the Summer EBT Program and Rural Non-congregate Option in the Summer Meal Programs,” 88 FR 90230. This interim final rule amended the SFSP, NSLP and SBP regulations to allow non-congregate meals through the SFSP and SSO in rural areas.

In response to changes made by the interim final rule, the FNS-418 and FNS-10 were revised to capture data related to this new non-congregate meal service option. To provide adequate time for state agency systems to collect the additional information and report it in the Food Programs Reporting System (FPRS), the attached FNS-418 and FNS-10 forms will be effective in fiscal year 2025. FNS will notify state agencies when the forms are available in FPRS and provide webinars and guidance to support implementation.

Revisions to the FNS-418 include:

1. Part A - Meals Served: Column C has been added to capture the number of non-congregate meals served monthly in rural non-congregate sites.
2. Part C: Part C has been updated to collect the data that were captured in Part D in the form. The form now includes two rows for Average Daily Attendance (ADA) of sponsors by sponsor type. The first is for sponsors’ congregate sites, and the second is for sponsors’ non-congregate sites. Part C also includes two new rows for Number of Operating Days by sponsor type, one for congregate sites and one for non-congregate sites. Operating days are defined for congregate sites as the number of days that meals are distributed at a site. For non-congregate meal service, operating days are days that meals are distributed via meal pickup or meal delivery. Part C will be reported for all months on the 90-day report.
3. Part D: Part D has been updated to capture the data that were previously captured in Part C in the form. The data collected are unchanged and will reflect the combined total for congregate and non-congregate meals served by meal type.
4. Instructions: Instructions have been updated to reflect the changes to the form. Of particular note, the instructions for Part B clarify that sponsors should record all meal counts in the month that they are distributed to children. For non-congregate sites distributing multiple days’ worth of meals on or near the last day of the month, the sponsor will record all of those meals in the month of distribution; the sponsor will not record any of those meals in the following month. For Part C, the instructions include separate examples for calculating ADA for sponsors’ congregate and non-congregate sites.

Revisions to the FNS-10 include:

5. Part C (NEW) SSO Reporting: This new section collects data on the total number of SSO meals and average daily meals by meal type. Instructions are included for how to calculate average daily SSO meals. States will report congregate and non-congregate figures on separate rows. States will complete Part C monthly.
6. Part D (NEW) SSO Sponsors and Sites: This new section collects data on the number of SSO sponsors, SSO sites and operating days. It is reported monthly and is split into congregate and non-congregate.
7. Instructions: Instructions have been updated to reflect the changes to the form. Note the separate examples for calculating average daily meals for congregate and non-congregate sites.

State agencies should direct questions to the appropriate FNS regional office.

Jessica Saracino
Director
Program Monitoring and Operational Support
Child Nutrition Programs

¹ On Sept. 6, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget approved the revisions to the FNS-10 and FNS-418 forms.