We have studied school meal program operations for a long time. You can access published reports that go back to school year 1988-89. Each study in this series focuses on topics that are important to program operations at the time. Sometimes the studies also collect information about other child nutrition programs, like the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program.
We regularly collect information about the school meal programs and how they operate from the people who know best – the state agencies that oversee the programs in each state and territory and the school food authorities that manage the programs locally in one or more schools.
This memorandum provides Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) agencies information on program oversight and expectations for the 2026 plans for operations and management (POM) and program implementation.
This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for state administrative expense funds expended in the operation of the child nutrition programs administered under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
This rule removes the Coordinated Services Plan (CSP) requirement for the Summer Food Service Program and Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children Program under the “Implementing Provisions from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023: Establishing the Summer EBT Program and Rural Non-Congregate Option in the Summer Meal Programs” interim final rule published Dec. 29, 2023.
This resource provides the steps the Summer EBT agency should use when conducting verification to confirm eligibility.
The brand guidelines in this document are for USDA staff, contractors, implementing agencies and partners to use for developing materials and communications about the SUN programs.
Sample PowerPoint presentation and corresponding talking points about USDA’s Summer Nutrition Programs that can be customized and used by implementing agencies.
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance regarding onsite and offsite strategies and options for oversight and monitoring of the school meal programs.
The Administrative Review is the process state agencies use to assess compliance with federal requirements of SFAs participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. This study assesses the AR process by examining the results from a purposive sample of ARs. The study also describes in-depth how nine selected state agencies conduct their ARs, and ways the process could be further improved.