Appendix B1 SFSP Informagtional Brochure

What is the purpose of the study?

[email protected]
Participation in the summer foods program
by children and sponsors has fluctuated
over the course of the program’s history,
often in response to national-level policy
changes.
Obtaining a solid understanding of how the
summer foods program operates at the
state, sponsor, and site levels, as well as
describing participant characteristics and
examining the differences and factors that
affect participation by sponsors and
children across states, is vital to improving
policies that influence the effectiveness of
the program and ultimately helping the
USDA better serve our nation’s youth by
providing for those in need of a supplemental nutrition program during the
summer.

Phone: (877) 776-8501
Fax: (301) 985-3760

Summer Food Service
Program (SFSP)
Participant Characteristics
Study

United States Department of Agriculture

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is
estimated to average xx minutes per response, including
the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and
completing and reviewing the collection of information.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is
not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any
other aspect of this collection of information, including
suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services, Office of Policy
Support, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria,
VA 22302 ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx*). Do not return the completed form to this address
OMB Control No.:0584-NEW
Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

Sponsored by The United States
Department of Agriculture, Food
and Nutrition Service

Who is conducting the study?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has
contracted with Optimal Solutions
Group, LLC to conduct the study.
Which results will the study provide?
The study will provide insight into how the SFSP
operates at the state, sponsor, and site levels
and identify barriers to and facilitators in participation by children and sponsors.

Which objectives will the study meet?
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Describe how the SFSP operates at the
state level.
Describe how the SFSP operates at the
sponsor level.
Describe how the SFSP operates at the
site level.
Describe the characteristics of SFSP
participants.
Examine the differences in participation in the SFSP and factors that affect
participation by sponsors and children.
Examine changes in the SFSP since the
2003 study.

How will the questions be answered?
This study will collect surveys from a census
of state agencies that administer their states’
summer foods programs and a stratified random sample of sponsors and sites. In addition to the surveys, a qualitative study will be
administered by conducting interviews with
parents/caregivers of SFSP participants and
interviews with parents/caregivers of SFSPeligible non-participants. A sub-study of highand low-participation states will also be conducted to understand meaningful differences
in participation between states.
Why participate in this study?
Participation ensures the accurate description of SFSP participant characteristics.
Participation allows the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to understand the impact of policy changes on participation in the summer
foods program. This information will ultimately better serve states, sponsors, and
sites in their efforts to serve children in need
of supplemental nutrition during the
summer.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will receive
a detailed report tabulating and analyzing the
data collected.
Research Assurances
No information that identifies sponsors, sites,
and parents/caregivers will be released to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture or to the public.
Results will be presented at aggregate levels in
all reports.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
has approved this study for all data-collection
activities under OMB # .
The study has been reviewed and approved by
the University of Maryland’s Institutional Review Board.
Timeline
 Winter–Spring 2015: Recruit state agencies
to participate.
 Spring–Summer 2015: Administer survey
and sponsor/site and recruit parent/
caregiver participants.
 Fall 2015: Conduct interviews with parents/
caregivers and submit final report to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture