Return of FY21 Admin Funds for TEFAP Policy Memo (199.89 KB)
| DATE: | July 13, 2021 | |
| SUBJECT: | Return of FY 2021 Administrative Funds for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) | |
| TO: | Regional Directors Special Nutrition Programs MARO, MPRO, MWRO, NERO, SERO, SWRO, and WRO |
State Directors All TEFAP State Agencies |
In FY 2021, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) state agencies continue to manage food and administrative funding from a variety of funding sources, while also responding to the ongoing public health crisis caused by the COVID19 pandemic.
Return of Administrative Funds in FY 2022
Given the ongoing COVID19 pandemic and the importance of ensuring that expiring administrative funds are expended, FNS will once again suspend the normal reallocation process for regularly appropriated FY 2021 TEFAP administrative funds. State agencies will have the opportunity to receive their unused FY 2021 regularly appropriated TEFAP administrative funds back for use in FY 2022. Please note, in order to streamline the return process, FY 2021 TEFAP funds converted from food to administrative funds will not be returned to state agencies in FY 2022. This will assist FNS with returning funds earlier in 2022 as it was operationally challenging to return the unspent FY 2020 TEFAP funds converted from food funds to administrative funds to state agencies in FY 2021.
Prioritization of FY 2021 Administrative Funds
TEFAP state agencies should prioritize the spending of expiring funds above FY 2021 regularly appropriated administrative funds, which expire at the federal level at the end of FY 2022. TEFAP administrative funds expiring at the end of FY 2021 include the COVID Third Supplemental administrative funds and returned FY 2020 regular TEFAP, FFCRA, and CARES Act administrative funds. Additionally, as noted above, unspent FY 2021 TEFAP funds converted from food to administrative funds will not be returned to state agencies in FY 2022. Therefore, state agencies should also prioritize the spending of FY 2021 TEFAP funds converted from food to administrative funds.
For more details on the TEFAP administrative funding available in FY 2021, please see the Feb. 16, 2021 memorandum, Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Food and Administrative Funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
State agencies should contact their respective FNS regional offices with any questions.
Laura Castro
Director
Food Distribution Program