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Summer
Food for Children Demonstrations
Frequently
Asked Questions
What are the
Summer Food for Children demonstrations?
The Summer Food for Children
Demonstrations are a series of projects,
authorized by Congress under the 2010
Agriculture Appropriations Act (P.L.
111-80), to
develop and test methods of providing
access to food for low-income children
in urban and rural areas during the
summer months when schools are not in
regular session. The purpose of the
projects, as defined in the law, is to
"reduce or eliminate the food
insecurity and hunger of such children,
and improve their nutritional
status." USDA is required to
provide for an independent evaluation of
these demonstration projects using
rigorous methodologies that can produce
scientifically valid information
regarding which projects are effective
in meeting these purposes.
The law made $85 million available to
pay for the costs of the projects and
evaluation, including participant
benefits, administrative expenses, costs
for outreach to potential participants
and potential sponsoring organizations;
and, soliciting, administering,
monitoring and evaluating each
demonstration project.
Why are these demonstrations
needed?
USDA has made a commitment to end
childhood hunger by 2015. A key
challenge is the problem of food
insecurity in summer months when school
is out and free and reduced-price school
meals are not available.
One of the most important tools that
State and Federal governments have to
address this need is the Summer Food
Service Program (SFSP), which enriches
the lives of millions of low-income
children during the summer, both by
making nutritious food available and by
providing resources that support summer
education and recreation programs. USDA
has a long history of partnership with
States, local community organizations,
and other stakeholders to strengthen and
expand participation in SFSP. We
continue to pursue those efforts
energetically.
At the same time, we recognize that
the program does not reach all those who
need food when school is out and
there is an increased risk of
childhood hunger in the
summer. FNS is using the funding and
authority provided by Congress earlier
this year to strengthen the existing
summer program and to look for new
approaches that can get food to children
who are not easily reached by the
current program.
What is the legislative authority
for the Summer Food for Children
demonstrations?
Section 749(g) of the 2010
Agriculture Appropriations Act directs
USDA to carry out demonstration projects
to develop and test methods of providing
access to food for low-income children
in urban and rural areas during the
summer months when schools are not in
regular session. A link to the statutory
language is found here.
What are the demonstrations?
We have implemented two types of
demonstrations – enhancements to the
existing SFSP program and a new model of
benefits, distributed through the SNAP
and WIC EBT systems:
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Enhanced SFSP (“eSFSP”): There are
four types of enhancements to the
existing SFSP program: incentives to
operate for more of the summer,
incentives to add activities at SFSP
sites, take-home meals distributed
in backpacks, and rural meal
delivery.
-
Summer EBT for Children (SEBTC): We
are testing new ways of delivering
nutrition assistance benefits in the
summer using the electronic benefit
delivery systems built for SNAP and
WIC to give low-income families with
children more resources to use at
food stores during the summer. The
demonstrations have gone through a
“Proof-of-Concept” year and a full
demonstration year. This summer we
will add new sites for an expanded
demonstration.
How do the
demonstrations impact the operations of the current Summer
Food Service Program?
-
States
selected to operate an enhanced SFSP
project will oversee the
implementation of the demonstrations
and are expected
to continue to operate and promote
the regular SFSP in areas and
institutions not participating in
the demonstration.
-
States
not selected to operate a
demonstration project will continue
to have the full support,
encouragement, and cooperation of
the Food and Nutrition Service to
promote and expand SFSP operations
to reach as many low-income children
as possible.
How can I submit a proposal for
consideration?
The application process is now closed.
Participating States include:
SEBTC
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Connecticut
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Cherokee Nation
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Chickasaw Nation
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Delaware
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Michigan
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Missouri
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Nevada
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Oregon
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Texas
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Washington
eSFSP
Send questions about the Summer Food
for Children demonstrations to CNDINTERNET@fns.usda.gov.
Last modified:
02/24/2013
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