School Breakfast Program
Published on AidPage by
IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To assist States in providing a nutritious nonprofit breakfast service for school children, through cash grants and food donations.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
Federally appropriated School Breakfast Program funds are available to reimburse participating public and nonprofit private schools, of high school grade and under and residential child care institutions, for breakfasts, meeting the nutritional requirements prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, served to eligible children. The rates of reimbursement are adjusted on an annual basis to reflect changes in the Food Away From Home series of the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers. For the period July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, the rates of reimbursement are 21.00 cents for paid breakfasts, 85.00 cents for each reduced price breakfast, and 114.00 cents for each free breakfast. The maximum reduced price charged for breakfast is 30 cents. Schools serving 40 percent or more free and reduced price lunches in the second preceding school year, and where breakfast per meal costs exceed the regular reimbursement rate, get up to 107.00 cents and 137.00 cents for each breakfast served to children qualifying, respectively, for a reduced price and a free breakfast. All participating schools must agree to serve free and reduced price meals to eligible children, and to operate the program on a nonprofit basis for all children regardless of race, sex, color, National origin, age, or disability.
Who is eligible to apply...
State and U.S. Territory agencies; (except territories subject to the requirements to the Compact of Free Association) public and nonprofit private schools of high school grade and under; public and nonprofit private residential child care institutions, except Job Corps Centers; residential summer camps that participate in the Summer Food Service Program for Children; and private foster homes. Schools desiring to participate must agree to operate a nonprofit breakfast program that is available to all children regardless of race, sex, color, National origin, age, or disability.
Credentials/Documentation
Applicant organizations must furnish evidence of nonprofit status. Costs will be determined in accordance with USDA Uniform Federal Assistance Regulations (7 CFR Part 3015 or 3016 and 3019).
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
Public schools in all States make application to the State Educational Agency unless the State applies or is approved for a waiver to designate an alternate agency. Appropriate forms may be obtained from this agency. Nonprofit private schools should also apply to the State Educational Agency in most States. In some States, however, the State Educational Agency is prohibited by statute from disbursing Federal funds to nonprofit private schools. In such instances, the application will be referred to the alternate State agency or the appropriate Food and Nutrition Service regional office.
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
When application is approved, schools make agreements with appropriate agency.
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
Federal-State agreement must be signed.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Agreements become effective upon approval by the State Agency or Food and Nutrition Service regional office, where applicable.
Preapplication Coordination
The application forms as furnished by the State agency or FNS, as applicable, must be used for this program. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
None. The State Agency or Food and Nutrition Service regional office, where applicable, is responsible for determining a school's eligibility.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Permanent, amended as necessary.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
All children attending schools where the breakfast program is operating may participate. Breakfast is served free to children who are determined by local school authorities to have household income levels at or below 130, or at a reduced price to children from households with incomes higher than 130 and at or below 185, percent of the income eligibility guidelines, respectively. Meals served to non-needy children also get cash assistance (21.00 cents for the school year ending June 30, 2002). Such determinations are made in accordance with income eligibility guidelines prescribed by the Secretary and cross reference household income with household size. The Secretary prescribes these income eligibility guidelines by June 1; the statistical source used in making such revisions is the Federal Income Poverty Guidelines. Children from households certified to receive food stamps, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (formerly known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and some children in Head Start Programs are automatically eligible for free meals.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Formula Grants
Allocations of money to States or their subdivisions in accordance with distribution formulas prescribed by law or administrative regulation, for activities of a continuing nature not confined to a specific project.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
Average Federal cash assistance for school year 2001 was 110.5 cents per meal, and ranged from 21.0 to 133.0 cents per meal depending upon income levels of the individual participant and upon the number of free and reduced price meals served by the school. Individual State grants vary according to participation in the program.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
(Grants) FY 02 $1,468,200,222; FY 03 est $1,574,654,000; and FY 04 est $1,660,870,000.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
12-3539-0-1-605.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
Not applicable.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
The number of schools and children participating in the breakfast program has been increasing. In fiscal year 2000, 1,296 million breakfasts were served, 84.2 percent to needy children. Since 1995, school breakfasts have been required to provide, over a school week, 1/4 of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for Key Nutrients and 1/4 of the calories needed by growing children. They also must conform to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including limitations on calories from fat (no more than 30 percent of total calories) average over a school week and saturated fat (less than 10 percent of total calories).
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Not applicable.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
For the period covered by the agreement on a fiscal-year basis.
Formula and Matching Requirements
Federal funds are made available for breakfast assistance in accordance with Section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act on a performance basis by: (1) multiplying the number of paid breakfasts served to eligible children during the fiscal year by a National Average Payment (NAP); (2) multiplying the number of breakfasts served free to eligible children by a NAP prescribed by the Secretary for free breakfasts; and, (3) multiplying the number of reduced price breakfasts served to eligible children by a NAP prescribed by the Secretary for reduced-priced breakfasts. The amount of Federal funds given the grantee is the sum of the products obtained from these three computations, plus an additional 6 cents for every breakfast served. Schools with a high percentage of needy children and high breakfast costs may receive additional payments. The statistical factors used in this formula are: (1) The NAP's; (2) the number of paid breakfasts served; and (3) the number of breakfasts served free or at reduced price to eligible children. The NAP's are prescribed by the Secretary and adjusted each July 1, in accordance with the Food Away From Home component of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The source of this adjustment factor is the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The source of the numbers of breakfasts served, including the number served free or at reduced price, is the monthly programmatic reports submitted to Food and Nutrition Service and described under "Post Assistance Requirements." This program has no maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
State Agencies, schools and institutions file monthly reports on the number of meals served, by type, to claim for reimbursement. Schools and institutions must submit final meal claims to the State no later than 60 days after claiming month. States must submit final program reports to Food and Nutrition Service no later than 90 days after the claiming month. States must submit a final fiscal year grant closeout report to Food and Nutrition Service no later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which they pertain.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133, "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-profit Organizations," State and local governments, and non profit organizations that expended $300,000 or more under Federal awards within any fiscal year shall have either a single audit or (in certain cases) a program specific audit made for that year. Audits may be conducted less frequent under conditions specified in A-133.
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
Schools must maintain full and accurate records of the breakfast program. Such records shall be retained for a period of 3 years after the end of the fiscal year to which they pertain, except that if audit findings have not been resolved, records shall be retained beyond the 3 year period until audit findings have been resolved.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1773, 1779, Public Laws 104-193, 100-435, 99-661, 97-35.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
Regulations 7 CFR Part 220-School Breakfast Program regulations, 7 CFR Part 245-Determining Eligibility for Free and Reduced Price Meals and Free Milk in Schools.