Cherokee Nation
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- Website: Summer EBT Program
- Hotline: 539-234-3265 or 800-256-0671 ext. 5275
- Email: wicsebtc@cherokee.org
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010, under Section 141, added a new Section 23 on Childhood Hunger Research to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. This section provides substantial new mandatory funding to research the causes and consequences of childhood hunger and to test innovative strategies to end child hunger and food insecurity. The authorizing program legislation and relevant section for this Request for Application (RFA) is: Childhood Hunger Research Demonstration Projects to End Childhood Hunger (42 USC 1769d).
The HHFKA provided $40 million to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct and evaluate the demonstration projects. The funding was authorized as of October 1, 2012 and will remain available until Sept. 30, 2017. USDA will commission and oversee a rigorous independent evaluation of each demonstration project. The primary outcome measure for the evaluation will be the change in the prevalence of food insecurity among children as measured by the USDA food security measure. Other site-specific outcomes related to particular interventions may be considered for the evaluation, but will be secondary to food insecurity among children.
The purpose of the demonstration projects is to test innovative strategies to end childhood hunger, including alternative models for service delivery and benefit levels that promote the reduction or elimination of childhood hunger and food insecurity. Projects could include enhanced SNAP benefits for eligible households with children; enhanced benefits or innovative program delivery models in school meals, afterschool snacks programs, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program; and other targeted federal, state or local assistance, including refundable tax credits, emergency housing, employment and training, or family preservation services, for households with children who are experiencing food insecurity. HHFKA requires that at least one demonstration project be carried out on an Indian reservation in a rural area with a service population having a prevalence of diabetes that exceeds 15 percent.