Twenty-two school food authorities across 16 states began testing pilot procedures in 2000-01 to determine and verify the eligibility of children for free and reduced price school meals. Three pilot F/RP eligibility determination models are being tested over a three-year period.
We are issuing this memorandum to clarify that emergency shelters that operate afterschool care programs with education or enrichment activities for homeless children and youth during the regular school year are automatically eligible for at-risk afterschool snacks under CACFP.
Research conducted in the early 1990s indicated that school meals, on balance, were failing to meet certain key nutritional goals. In light of these findings, the USDA launched a far-reaching reform of the school meals programs, a reform aimed at upgrading the nutritional content of school meals. Several elements of this reform are collectively referred to as the School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children (SMI). The status of this initiative, together with an examination of selected operational issues of these programs, are the principal subjects of this report.
We are providing guidance in a question and qnswer format to capture the questions we have already answered informally, as well as other questions we will be responding to for the first time.
Please advise your state agencies that a January 2002 amendment to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act clarified the definition of homeless children and youth. Another provision of the statute requires each school district to designate a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths.
The No Child Left Behind Act contains a number of changes that affect the Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers. This memo contains those changes that are pertinent to the child nutrition programs.
This report fulfills a request to USDA from the Appropriations Committee Directives, FY 2002. As requested, this report compares the availability of fruits and vegetables in schools with and without salad bars using data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study, Part II, which were collected during the school year 1998-99. SNDA-II data enables us to examine the choice and variety of foods offered at salad bars, but not the quantity in a typical serving or the amount consumed.
This memorandum provides flexibility to at-risk afterschool care programs that serve both a snack and supper.
This report fulfills the request from Congress in the House Appropriations Committee Report (HR 107-116), which accompanied the Agriculture Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2002.
We have been asked to reconsider our decision to exclude closed enrolled sites in eligible areas and camps from participation in the Seamless Summer Feeding Waiver.