FNS Documents & Resources

A final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Community Eligibility Provision-Increasing Options for Schools (88 FR 65778), was published on Sept. 26, 2023, with an effective date of Oct. 26, 2023, that established the 25 percent minimum ISP threshold.  As a result, more students, households, and schools have the opportunity to experience CEP’s benefits, such as increasing access to school meals at no cost, eliminating unpaid meal charges, minimizing stigma, and streamlining meal service operations.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided USDA with $50 million to implement SFMNP initiatives to maintain and improve supply chain resiliency, which also improves the nutrition security of eligible participants.

As part of the WIC innovation and modernization efforts to be funded under ARPA, FNS will provide non-competitive grants to WIC state agencies for planning and implementation of technology enhancements that improve the WIC participant experience, as evidenced by increasing participant enrollment, reducing unnecessary administrative burden for both participants and administrators, and retaining eligible participants while improving equity.

This checklist is intended to help new Farm to School grantees complete the "new grantee enrollment process." Grantees must complete all the necessary steps of the enrollment process prior in order to begin receiving grant funding.

As part of the WIC innovation and modernization efforts to be funded under ARPA, FNS will fund non-competitive grants to WIC State agencies to complete projects aimed at improving the WIC shopping experience, which is a well-documented pain point for WIC participants. The primary goal of funded projects must be to improve the shopping experience, as evidenced by increasing the redemption of WIC benefits, improving customer satisfaction, and/or improving participant access to vendors, including for underserved communities and individuals.

Households with a child  approved to receive free or reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program during the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year are eligible for the Federal Communication Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit. EBB is a federal program to help eligible families pay for internet service during the pandemic.

FNS is establishing a targeted waiver, for all states and local educational agencies, to extend statutory and regulatory deadlines relating to Community Eligibility Provision reporting and election during the public health emergency due to COVID–19.

The 90-day closeout period is used by grantees to pay outstanding bills, complete the final progress report, and finalize the final SF 425 report. This page summarizes the grant close-out process for Farm to School grantees.

Basic overview of Food Program Reporting System for new Farm to School Grant recipients.

This document provides a brief overview of the Automated System for Award Payments (ASAP) for new users so that they may draw down grant award funding.