Summer Food Service Program FAQs

You know that children who miss breakfast and lunch are more likely to be sick, absent or tardy, disruptive in class, and inattentive. They also score lower on achievement tests. Good nutrition is essential for learning in school. SFSP provides an opportunity to continue a child's physical and social development while providing nutritious meals during long vacation periods from school. It helps children return to school ready to learn.

The Food and Nutrition Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, administers SFSP at the federal level. State education agencies administer the program in most states. In some areas, the state health or social service department or an FNS regional office may be designated.

Locally, SFSP is run by approved sponsors, including school districts, local government agencies, camps, or private nonprofit organizations. Sponsors provide free meals to a group of children at a central site, such as a school or a community center. They receive payments from USDA, through their state agencies, for the meals they serve. In rural areas, sponsors can operate meal pick-up sites or offer home meal delivery to eligible children with prior written consent.

States approve SFSP meal sites as open, enrolled, camps, or conditional non-congregate sites. In designated rural areas, meals can be distributed or delivered directly to eligible children.

• Open sites operate in low-income areas where at least half of the children come from families with incomes at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, making them eligible for free and reduced-price school meals. Meals are served free to any child at the open site.
• Enrolled sites provide free meals to children enrolled in an activity program at the site where at least half of them are eligible for free and reduced-price meals.
• Camps may also participate in SFSP. They receive payments only for the meals served to children who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals.
• Rural non-congregate sites operate in low-income, rural areas. Non-congregate meals can be provided through meal pick-up, which includes grab-and go, curbside service, or take-home backpacks, or through home delivery with prior written parental consent.
• Conditional non-congregate sites operate outside of low-income areas. They receive payments only for meals served to children in rural areas who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals.

Approved program sponsors in low-income, rural areas can offer meals through pick-up or home delivery as part of the non-congregate meal service option for rural areas.

More information and guidance for operating non-congregate meal service can be found on the FNS website.

Units of local government, camps, schools, and private nonprofit organizations can sponsor the SFSP. If your organization already provides services to the community and has capable staff and good management practices to run a food service, you can become a sponsor for the SFSP.

As a sponsor, you will attend the state agency's training, locate eligible sites, hire, train and supervise staff, arrange for meals to be prepared and delivered, monitor sites and prepare claims for reimbursement.

Many organizations, particularly smaller ones, may want to consider operating a feeding site, such as a recreational or enrichment program. Many sponsors would welcome such an arrangement.

If you supervise a site, you will attend your sponsor's training, supervise activities and the meal service, keep daily records of meals served, store food appropriately, and keep the site clean and sanitary. You should contact the state agency indicating your interest as a site or find a local sponsor and make your own arrangements.

Children 18 and younger may receive free meals and snacks through SFSP.

Meals and snacks are also available to persons with disabilities, over age 18, who participate in school programs for people who are mentally or physically disabled.

Yes. Participation in SFSP does not preclude a child from participating in other nutrition assistance programs. For example, participation in the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) does not prevent a child from receiving SFSP benefits. These programs are meant to be complementary. The complementary nature of these nutrition assistance options is the foundation of their great potential to benefit children across the nation. They are intended to be used collectively to provide a nutrition safety net, not just during the summer but all year round.

At most sites, children receive either one or two reimbursable meals each day. Camps and sites that primarily serve migrant children may be approved to serve up to three meals to each child, each day.

SFSP was first created as part of a larger pilot program in 1968. It became a separate program in 1975.

To find a meal service site near where you live, contact organizations in your community that are offering an activity program. Organizations offering activities for children are often local schools, community centers, recreation centers, and faith-based organizations.

USDA also maintains a regularly updated online site finder tool called the Summer Meals for Kids Site Finder This mapping tool allows you to enter an address, city, state or zip code to find up to 50 nearby meal site locations, along with their physical address, hours of operation, and contact information.

You may also call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE. If you are unable to find a site in your area, please contact your state agency and ask for the location of a meal service site in your community.

If there are no meal service sites in your area, you can mobilize your community to sponsor the program. In order for a site to exist in your community, a school, nonprofit organization or local government agency must be the program sponsor and be responsible for the administration of the program. To begin mobilizing your community, contact the following people and groups, and tell them there is an interest in the community to feed children in the summer.

Contact:

• The school principal
• Teachers
• The Parent Teachers Association
• The school food service manager
• School officials such as the school board or superintendent of schools
• The Mayor's office
• Recreation and Parks Office
• County officials
• Elected officials

Volunteer! Our best SFSP sites have organized, well-run activities that keep the interest of the children and teens coming back to the site day after day. Some of these activities include arts and crafts, tutoring, mentoring, drama, sports, computer training, music, gardening, reading programs, cooking, or any other creative ideas you may have.

Many sites have enlisted local fire and police departments, local celebrities, local businesses, and local political figures to make presentations to their SFSP sites. The only limitation is your imagination.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, or don't know of a sponsor in your area, contact your state agency.