FY 2014 Administrative Review and Training Grants
The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (PL 108-265) amended Section 22 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a requirement that state agencies conduct additional administrative reviews of selected local educational agencies (LEAs). It also amended Section 7 of the Child Nutrition Act to provide funding for states to be used for administrative reviews and training of LEAs. Both of these requirements are focused on LEAs which have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error.
To assist state agencies in achieving these requirements, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has up to $4 million available in fiscal year (FY) 2014 to fund Method II Administrative Reviews and Training (ART) Grants for training and oversight. The grant funds will be available only to the 57 state agencies that administer the child nutrition programs, and are for the purpose of identifying, reviewing, monitoring and training LEAs that have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error. FNS will make the funds available on a competitive basis.
States may apply for a planning grant or an Implementation grant, as described in Section IV, ART Method II Grant Types, in this Request for Applications (RFA), but not both. Accordingly, within approximately three weeks of this RFA’s publication, FNS will conduct a webinar with all state agencies and FNS regional offices to review the RFA and address questions regarding the application process. Notification of the webinar date, time and call-in information will be communicated to state agencies via the FNS regional offices and the FNS Child Nutrition Division’s PartnerWeb at https://www.partnerweb.usda.gov.
The FY 2014 ART Method II Grant award process involves two types of awards:
- ART Method II Planning grants for awards up to $75,000, with grant periods of up to one year; and
- ART Method II Implementation grants for awards up to $1,500,000, with grant periods of one to three years.