This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Direct certification is a process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications.
The eSFSP projects test changes to the existing structure and delivery mechanism of SFSP to determine if they lead to increased participation.
The Food, Nutrition and Conservation Act of 2008 (also known as the Farm Bill) authorized funds to pilot test and rigorously evaluate the impact of financial incentives at the point-of-sale for the purchase of fruits, vegetables or other healthful foods on the diet quality of participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program FNS refers to this effort as the Healthy Incentives Pilot or HIP. HIP operated for 14 months in Hampden County, MA.
The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is managing a small-grants research program, funded by FNS. Through a competitive process, UCLA awarded seven grants in June 2012.
The attached memorandum of questions and answers, issued jointly by the Food and Nutrition Service headquarters, food distribution and child nutrition divisions, clarifies the use of SAE funds, both as initially allocated and when reallocated, for administrative and other expenses incurred in the food distribution program.
The purpose of this memorandum is to advise you of a new and revised requirement for all Receiving Organizations (i.e., organizations that receive shipments of Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods, including Distributing Agencies, Indian Tribal Organizations (ITO), recipient agencies, processors, and warehouses). This memorandum replaces the previous FD-062 dated April 25, 2011 , and adjusts the maximum timeframe for entering shipment receipts in the Web-Based Supply Chain Management System.
On March 26, 2013, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2013 was signed into law, which provides $49.401 million for TEFAP administrative funding through Sept. 30, 2013.
USDA Food and Nutrition Service policy memo SP 26-2013, "Extending Flexibility in the Meat/Meat Alternate and Grains Maximums for School Year 2013-14" extends the flexibility regarding Meat/Meat Alternate (M/MA) maximums for SY 2013-13, allowing state agencies to assess compliance based on the minimum daily and weekly serving requirements only.