Appendix G.10 Study Support Email (from SA to SFA)

Appendix G.10
Study support email (from SA to SFA)

SMO II

OMB Control Number: 0584-0607

Expiration Date: XX/XX/20XX

Dear SFA director:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and our State are working with Mathematica to conduct the School Meals Operations (SMO) Study. For school year (SY) 2021–2022, your school food authority (SFA) has been selected to participate in this study.

This important study will gather information on Child Nutrition (CN) Program operations during SYs 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, as well as the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on SFAs. Your participation is vital to understanding CN Program operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and to informing policies intended to ensure these programs contribute to a healthy future for all children—a goal we all share.

Representatives from Mathematica will contact you in the coming weeks to introduce the study and provide details on the web survey you will be asked to complete. Cooperation by States and districts is required under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) (PL 116-127) and Section 28 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, so we thank you in advance for your cooperation and participation in this very important study.

For more information on this study, please see the attached brochure.

Sincerely,

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is collecting this information to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected school food authority (SFA) operations and finances and to satisfy State agencies’ congressionally mandated reporting requirements for the COVID-19 nationwide waivers pursuant to section 2202 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (P.L. 116-127). This is a mandatory collection for State agencies and SFAs. FNS will use the information to assess how the waivers improved services to children and to inform FNS’s planning, policy, and guidance related to state and local meal service operations. Because the personally identifiable information (PII) requested under this collection will not be used to retrieve survey records or data, requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 do not apply. Responses will be kept private to the extent provided by law and FNS regulations. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0607. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 20 minutes (.33 hours) per response for State agencies and 3 minutes (.0501 hours) per response for SFAs, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. 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 Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5^th floor, Alexandria, VA 22314, ATTN: PRA (0584-0607). Do not return the completed form to this address.

[State CN Director]

Attachments: Brochure