Appendix 11 - 7 CFR 272-2 d 2 excerpt

Title 7: Agriculture
PART 272—REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING STATE AGENCIES

§272.2   Plan of operation.

(2) Nutrition Education Plan. If submitted, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) Plan must include the following:

(i) Conform to standards established in this regulation, SNAP-Ed Plan Guidance, and other FNS policy. A State agency may propose to implement an annual or multiyear Plan of up to three years;

(ii) Identify the methods the State will use to notify applicants, participants and eligible individuals to the maximum extent possible of the availability of SNAP-Ed activities in local communities;

(iii) Describe methods the State agency will use to identify its target audience. FNS will consider for approval targeting strategies and supporting data sources included in SNAP-Ed Plan Guidance and alternate targeting strategies and supporting data sources proposed by State agencies;

(iv) Present a valid and data-driven needs assessment of the nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention needs of the target population, and their barriers to accessing healthy foods and physical activity. The needs assessment should consider the diverse characteristics of the target population, including race/ethnicity, gender, employment status, housing, language, transportation/mobility needs, and other factors;

(v) Ensure interventions are appropriate for the low-income population defined as SNAP participants and low-income individuals eligible to receive benefits under SNAP or other means-tested Federal assistance programs and individuals residing in communities with a significant low-income population. The interventions must recognize the population's constrained resources and potential eligibility for Federal food assistance;

(vi) Describe the evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention services that the State will provide in SNAP-Ed and how the State will deliver those services, either directly or through agreements with other State or local agencies or community organizations, and how the interventions and strategies meet the assessed nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention needs of the target population;

(vii) Use of Funds. (A) A State agency must use the SNAP-Ed nutrition education and obesity prevention grant to fund the administrative costs of planning, implementing, operating, and evaluating its SNAP-Ed program in accordance with its approved SNAP-Ed Plan; State agencies shall provide program oversight to ensure integrity of funds and demonstrate program effectiveness regarding SNAP-Ed outcomes and impacts;

(B) Definitions. SNAP nutrition education and obesity prevention services are defined as a combination of educational strategies, accompanied by supporting environmental interventions, demonstrated to facilitate adoption of food and physical activity choices and other nutrition-related behaviors conducive to the health and well-being of SNAP participants and low-income individuals eligible to receive benefits under SNAP or other means-tested Federal assistance programs and individuals residing in communities with a significant low-income population. Nutrition education and obesity prevention services are delivered through multiple venues, often through partnerships, and involve activities at the individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. Acceptable policy level interventions are activities that encourage healthier choices based on the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Intervention strategies may focus on increasing consumption of certain foods, beverages, or nutrients as well as limiting consumption of certain foods, beverages, or nutrients consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans;SNAP-Ed nutrition education and obesity prevention activities must be evidence-based. An evidence-based approach for nutrition education and obesity prevention is defined as the integration of the best research evidence with best available practice-based evidence. The best research evidence refers to relevant rigorous nutrition and public health nutrition research including systematically reviewed scientific evidence. Practice-based evidence refers to case studies, pilot studies and evidence from the field on nutrition education interventions that demonstrate obesity prevention potential. Evidence may be related to obesity prevention target areas, intervention strategies and/or specific interventions. The target areas are identified in the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. SNAP-Ed services may also include emerging strategies or interventions, which are community- or practitioner-driven activities that have the potential for obesity prevention, but have not yet been formally evaluated for obesity prevention outcomes. Emerging strategies or interventions require a justification for a novel approach and must be evaluated for effectiveness. Intervention strategies are broad approaches to intervening on specific target areas. Interventions are a specific set of evidence-based, behaviorally-focused activities and/or actions to promote healthy eating and active lifestyles. Evidence-based allowable uses of funds for SNAP-Ed include conducting and evaluating intervention programs, and implementing and measuring the effects of policy, systems and environmental changes in accordance with SNAP-Ed Plan Guidance;

(C) SNAP-Ed activities must promote healthy food and physical activity choices based on the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

(D) SNAP-Ed activities must include evidence-based activities using two or more of these approaches: individual or group-based nutrition education, health promotion, and intervention strategies; comprehensive, multi-level interventions at multiple complementary organizational and institutional levels; community and public health approaches to improve nutrition and physical activity;