Request for Applications:
Administrative Review and Training Grants (CFDA#: 10.579)

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 annual funding for states to be used for oversight and training of LEAs.

Both of these requirements are focused on LEAs that have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error. To assist state agencies in achieving this requirement, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has up to $7.7 million available in fiscal year (FY) 2019 to fund Administrative Reviews and Training (ART) Grants for oversight and training. The ART grant funds will be available on a competitive basis only to the 57 state agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP), 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 is offering two types of ART Grants: Planning and Implementation. States may apply for either a Planning grant or an Implementation grant, as described within this Request for Applications (RFA), but not both in a given RFA solicitation.

The FY 2019 ART Grant award process involves two types of awards:

• ART Planning Grants for awards up to $150,000, with grant periods of up to one year; and
• ART Implementation Grants for awards up to $3,000,000, with grant periods of one to three years.

State agencies may apply for either type of grant (i.e., Planning or Implementation), but not both in a given RFA solicitation. Only one grant application will be accepted from a state agency in response to this solicitation.

Critical Dates

Who May Apply

Eligible applicants include all state agencies that administer the NSLP and SBP. In this instance, the term state agency means 1) the state educational agency; and 2) any other agency of the state which has been designated by the Governor or other appropriate executive or legislative authority of the state and approved by USDA to administer the NSLP and SBP in LEAs. Only one grant application (planning or implementation) will be accepted from a state agency in response to this solicitation. However, in instances where there are two agencies within a state, such as in the case where the public and private agencies are different, separate applications are acceptable.

Application Due Date

The complete ART Grant application (planning or implementation) must be uploaded on www.grants.gov 11:59 PM, Eastern Time on Nov. 28, 2018. Applications received after the deadline date will be deemed ineligible and will not be reviewed or considered. FNS will not accept mailed, faxed, or hand-delivered applications. Applications submitted without the required supporting documents, forms, certification will not be considered. Applications not submitted via the Grants.gov portal will not be considered. Applicants experiencing difficulty submitting application should contact Dawn Addison at dawn.Addison@usda.gov.

Summaries

• ART Grant Summaries