Program objective

National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grants are competitively awarded subgrants to local educational agencies and schools to purchase equipment, with a value of greater than $1,000, needed to serve healthier meals, improve food safety, and to help support the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of the School Breakfast Program. Administrative Review and Training (ART) grants are awarded to State agencies to conduct additional administrative reviews of selected local educational agencies and to provide funding for state agencies to be used for oversight and training of administrative personnel on application, certification, verification, meal counting, and meal claiming procedures. Direct Certification Improvement Grants are awarded to assist States agencies in improving their direct certification processes and rates. Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children demonstrations develop and test innovative methods of providing access to food for children during the summer months when schools are not in regular session to reduce or eliminate the food insecurity and hunger of children, and improve the nutritional status of children. Participating States and Tribal Nations provide Summer EBT food benefits on debit cards to eligible low-income families with school-age children during the summer months, giving them more resources to use at retail food stores. Grants to Improve Health and Nutrition were previously available to State agencies for projects that were aimed at improving the health and wellness of children in child care settings. School Breakfast Expansion grants are available to eligible State agencies to provide sub-grants to local educational agencies for qualifying schools to establish, maintain, or expand the School Breakfast Program. Meals to You is a cooperative agreement between USDA and the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty to provide crucial nutrition to eligible children nationwide who live in rural areas where traditional congregate SFSP sites have historically been unsuccessful due to the lack of transportation. This project expanded to address the needs of eligible children affected by COVID-19 school closures. Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards and Sub-Grants for School Food Authorities is a cooperative agreement between USDA and Action for Healthy Kids to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative Supplemental Marketing and Communications is a cooperative agreement between USDA and Action for Healthy Kids to implement marketing and communications efforts to foster the sharing of best practices among School Food Authorities across the country as they implement the school meal standards in the Final Rule titled, “Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 202-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative Spring 2024 Healthy Meals Summit was a cooperative agreement between USDA and Action for Healthy Kids to convene Healthy Meals Incentives small and rural grantees to discuss grant projects and share innovative ideas for improving the nutritional quality of school meals.