State Agencies and School Food Authorities (SFA) (CN and SFA Directors) - SLT

Appendix D.1
State Agency Child Nutrition Director Survey School Year 2023–2024

OMB Clearance Number: 0584-0607

Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx

State Agency Child Nutrition Director Survey:

School Year 2023–2024

FINAL

March 30, 2023

Sponsored by:

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Food and Nutrition Service

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is collecting this information to understand how State agencies and school food authorities operated CN Programs in SY 2022-2023 and to satisfy the 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 half hour (30 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. 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, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314, ATTN: PRA (0584-0607). Do not return the completed form to this address.

Introduction

Intro.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), has contracted with Mathematica to conduct the School Meals Operations (SMO) Study. Having updated information about school-based Child Nutrition (CN) Programs will help FNS effectively administer these programs and inform policy and budget decisions.

This survey is collecting information on the following topics for School Year (SY) 2022-2023:

1. COVID-19 CN waiver reporting requirements for the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver*

2. Universal free school meals

3. Participation in USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program

Preparation note: You will be asked to report the number of schools that applied to participate and participated in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Program (FFVP). You will also be asked for the number of children served through this program.

4. Subsidies

5. Procurement and Buy American

* This survey is collecting information on the statutory reporting requirements for the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver that FNS authorized for use due to the COVID-19 public health emergency and pursuant to the authority in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Federal statute requires each State agency that oversees CN Programs to report on use of the waiver by the State agency and local program operators.

Because this is a mandatory information collection, your State Agency must answer all questions regarding the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver. Full participation in the SMO Study will satisfy your State agency’s reporting requirements for the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver.

Cooperation by States and districts is required under Section 28 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. At the same time, recognizing the administrative effort associated with participating in research studies, SMO has been designed to limit participant burden to the extent possible. It should take about 30 minutes to complete the survey

The information you provide about yourself and other individuals in your organization will be kept private to the full extent allowed by law. This means that your personal information will be kept private and not associated with any of your responses about your agencies’ operations. The responses you provide about operations may be tabulated by State so that the public will be able to determine how your agency operates CN Programs.

We thank you in advance for your time and cooperation in this important study. If you have any questions about the study, please email [email protected] or call Mathematica toll-free at 833-440-9475.

Instructions for Completing the Survey

• You may view a PDF of the full data collection instrument here. Note that this does not include the display logic so you may see questions that do not apply to your State agency.

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Glossary

SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver: This waiver allowed State agencies to not take fiscal action for missing meal components or production records and for repeat violations involving milk type and vegetable subgroups when there is a COVID-19-related supply chain disruption with respect to foods served under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), or Seamless Summer Option (SSO).

Local program operators: SFAs, sponsors, or institutions that operate the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), or Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

School food authority (SFA): The governing body that has the legal authority to operate a lunch or breakfast program in one or more public or private schools.

Contact Information

CI1. Before starting the survey, please fill in the requested contact information below. If the information below is prefilled, please review and update the information as necessary.

Please fill in the contact information for the State Child Nutrition Director below: (Update where necessary)

First Name:

Last Name:

Street Address 1:

Street Address 2:

City:

State:

Zip:

Phone Number: (Please do not use parentheses or dashes)

Ext.

Email:

CI2. If you are not the State Child Nutrition Director, please fill in the name and contact information of the primary contact:

First Name:

Last Name:

Title:

Street Address 1:

Street Address 2:

City:

State:

Zip:

Phone Number: (Please do not use parentheses or dashes)

Ext.

Email:

A. WAIVER TO ALLOW FISCAL ACTION FLEXIBILITY FOR MEAL PATTERN VIOLATIONS RELATED TO COVID-19 SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS IMPACTING SCHOOL MEALS IN SY 2022-2023

ALL

A_intro.

COVID-19: Child Nutrition Response #110: Waiver to Allow Fiscal Action Flexibility for Meal Pattern Violations Related to COVID-19 Supply Chain Disruptions Impacting School Meals in School Year 2022-2023

This section asks about use of the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver. This waiver allowed State agencies to not take fiscal action for missing meal components or production records and for repeat violations involving milk type and vegetable subgroups when there is a COVID-19-related supply chain disruption with respect to foods served under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), or Seamless Summer Option (SSO).

Please answer the following questions focusing on use of the waiver during SY 2022-2023.

A1. Did your State agency use the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver for any of the following?

	Select one per row
	Yes	No	Don’t know
a. The requirement to apply fiscal action for missing food components or missing production records	1 	0 	d 
b. The requirement to apply fiscal action for repeated violations involving milk type and vegetable subgroups	1 	0 	d 

NO RESPONSE M

A1A =1

A2. For how many school food authorities (SFAs) did your State agency waive the requirement to apply fiscal action for missing food components or missing production records using the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver during SY 2022-2023?

Please enter the number of SFAs. Then select an option to indicate whether this is the actual number or your best estimate. If you do not have enough information to provide a reasonably close estimate, please select “Don’t know."

NUMBER OF SFAS

(RANGE: 1-2000)

 Actual number of SFAs 3

 Estimated number of SFAs 2

 Don’t know- data not collected d

NO RESPONSE M

A1B =1

A3. For how many SFAs did your State agency waive the requirement to apply fiscal action for repeated violations involving milk type and vegetable subgroups using the SY 2022-2023 Fiscal Action waiver during SY 2022-2023?

Please enter the number of SFAs. Then select an option to indicate whether this is the actual number or your best estimate. If you do not have enough information to provide a reasonably close estimate, please select “Don’t know."

NUMBER OF SFAS

(RANGE: 1-2000)

 Actual number of SFAs 3

 Estimated number of SFAs 2

 Don’t know- data not collected d

NO RESPONSE M

B. STATE-PROVIDED UNIVERSAL FREE SCHOOL MEALS

IF STATE= CA, NV, MA, ME, VT (starting in SY 22-23)

B_intro. The next question is about State-provided universal free meals.

B1. With the recent availability of universal free meals, what challenges, if any, has your State agency experienced with application collections now that school meals benefits are not tied to the Free and Reduced Price School Meals Application?

select ALL THAT APPLY

o SFAs not collecting applications 1

o Families not completing applications 2

o Incomplete data in applications 3

o SFAs unable to verify applications 4

o Other (Specify) 99

m No challenges 0

m Don’t know d

NO RESPONSE M

C. USDA FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM

ALL

C_Intro. The next questions are about school participation in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in SY 2022-2023.

C1. How many elementary schools participated in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in SY 2022–2023?

If none, please enter 0.

NUMBER OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

(RANGE 0-6000)

m Don’t know d

NO RESPONSE M

C2. How many elementary schools applied to participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in SY 2022–2023?

If none, please enter 0.

NUMBER OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

(RANGE 0-6000)

m Don’t know d

NO RESPONSE M

IF C1>0

C3. How many elementary school students in your State were served under the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in SY 2022–2023?

NUMBER OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

(RANGE 0-6000)

m Don’t know d

NO RESPONSE M

IF FFVp funds returned = 1

C4. Why did your State return Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program funding?

select ALL THAT APPLY

o State was unable to operate the program at full capacity 1

o Not enough schools applied to participate in FFVP 2

o Schools did not utilize all their awarded funds 3

o Other (Specify) 99

Specify

m Don’t know d

NO RESPONSE M

D. SUBSIDIES

ALL

The following questions are about the subsidies and support your State provided to SFAs in SY 2022-2023.

PROGRAMMER: IF STATE= CA, NV, MA, ME, VT, CODE D1 AS YES AND GO TO D2.

ALL States except CA, nv, MA, me, and vt

D1. In addition to Federal reimbursements, did your State provide subsidies to SFAs for breakfasts in SY 2022-2023?

m Yes 1

m No 0 SKIP TO D3

NO RESPONSE M

D1=1 or STATE= CA, NV, MA, ME, VT

D2. Which of the following subsidies did your State provide to SFAs for breakfasts in SY 2022-2023? [IF STATE= CA, NV, MA, ME, VT: Please think about both subsidies your State provided for universal free meals and other subsidies your State provided.]

select ALL THAT APPLY

o State offered universal free breakfast 1

o Per-meal reimbursement based on the number of free meals 2

o Per-meal reimbursement based on the number of reduced price meals 3

o Per-meal reimbursement based on the number of paid meals 4

o Annual lump sum 5

o Supplement to cover specific costs 6

o Amount based on a percentage of low-income students 7

o Other (Specify) 99

Specify

NO RESPONSE M

PROGRAMMER: IF STATE= CA, NV, MA, ME, VT, CODE D3 AS YES AND GO TO D4.

ALL states except CA, NV, MA, ME, VT

D3. In addition to Federal reimbursements, did your State provide subsidies to SFAs for lunches in SY 2022-2023?

m Yes 1

m No 0 SKIP TO E_Intro

NO RESPONSE M

D3=1 or STATE= CA, NV, MA, ME, VT

D4 Which of the following subsidies did your State provide to SFAs for lunches in SY 2022-2023? [IF STATE= CA, NV, MA, ME, VT: Please think about both subsidies your State provided for universal free meals and other subsidies your State provided.]

select ALL THAT APPLY

o State offered universal free lunch 1

o Per-meal reimbursement based on the number of free meals 2

o Per-meal reimbursement based on the number of reduced price meals 3

o Per-meal reimbursement based on the number of paid meals 4

o Annual lump sum 5

o Supplement to cover specific costs 6

o Amount based on a percentage of low-income students 7

o Other (Specify) 99

Specify (STRING (NUM))

NO RESPONSE M

E. PROCUREMENT AND BUY AMERICAN

The next set of questions is about Buy American and local food procurement.

ALL

The Buy American provision requires SFAs to procure, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic commodities or products. A domestic commodity or product is defined as an agricultural commodity that is produced in the United States or a food product that is processed in the United States substantially using agricultural commodities produced in the United States.

E1. Does your State have a policy on the Buy American provision? State policies may be identical to the Federal policy or may include Federal and/or State-specific policy components.

m Yes, our State implements the Federal policy 1

m Yes, our State has a State-specific policy 2

m No 0 SKIP TO E8

NO RESPONSE M

E1=1 or 2

E2. What components are described in your State’s Buy American policy?

PROGRAMMER: RANDOMIZE OPTIONS 1-8

Select all that apply

o Buy American provision requirement to procure domestic commodities or products 1

o Definition of a domestic commodity or product 2

o Criteria for SFAs to determine exceptions to the Buy American provision 3

o Requirement for SFAs to document the Buy American provision in all procurement solicitations and/or contracts 4

o Requirement for SFAs to document the Buy American provision in all procurement procedures and/or document prototypes 5

o Encouragement for SFAs to procure domestic foods from local, regional, small, women-owned, and/or minority-owned businesses 6

o Encouragement for SFAs to order USDA Foods 7

o State procurement reviews to ensure SFA compliance with the Buy American provision 8

o Other (Specify) 99

Specify (STRING 150)

NO RESPONSE M

E2_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, OR 99=1

E3. Does your State provide guidance to SFAs on the following policy components?

PROGRAMMER: DISPLAY ONLY ROWS SELECTED IN E2. DISPLAY ROWS IN SAME ORDER AS E2.

	Select one per row
	Yes	No
a. Buy American provision requirement to procure domestic commodities or products	1 m	0 m
b. Definition of a domestic commodity or product	1 m	0 m
c. Criteria for SFAs to determine exceptions to the Buy American provision	1 m	0 m
d. Requirement for SFAs to document the Buy American provision in all procurement solicitations and/or contracts	1 m	0 m
e. Requirement for SFAs to document the Buy American provision in all procurement procedures and/or document prototypes	1 m	0 m
f. Encouragement for SFAs to procure domestic foods from local, regional, small, women-owned, and/or minority-owned businesses	1 m	0 m
g. Encouragement for SFAs to order USDA Foods	1 m	0 m
h. State procurement reviews to ensure SFA compliance with the Buy American provision	1 m	0 m
I. [FILL E2 OTHER RESPONSE]	1 m	0 m

NO RESPONSE M

E3A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, OR I=1

E4. What methods are used to share guidance on your State’s Buy American policy with SFAs?

Select all that apply

o Online documents and resources 1

o Handbooks / guides 2

o In-person presentations 3

o Webinar presentations 4

o Phone or email communications 5

o Other (Specify) 99

Specify (STRING 150)

m None - State does not provide guidance to SFAs on Buy American policy 0

NO RESPONSE M

E1=1

E5. How does your State agency ensure SFA compliance with the Buy American provision? For each compliance review activity, please indicate the type of review your State uses to check compliance.

	Select all that apply per row or ’Compliance not checked’
	During administrative review	During procurement review	During other review	Compliance not checked
a. Check that SFAs are procuring domestic commodities/products	1 o	2 o	3 o	0 m
b. Check that contract solicitations contain Buy American language	1 o	2 o	3 o	0 m
c. Check that contracts contain Buy American language	1 o	2 o	3 o	0 m
d. Check that supplier invoices or receipts show that solicited domestic commodities/products were provided by the contractor	1 o	2 o	3 o	0 m
e. Look at food product labels in SFA storage facilities	1 o	2 o	3 o	0 m
f. Share sample Buy American language that SFAs can use in solicitations, contracts, and other documents	1 o	2 o	3 o	0 m
g. Other (Specify)	1 o	2 o	3 o	0 m

NO RESPONSE M

E1=1

Exceptions to the Buy American provision are allowed when the use of domestic foods is not practical. That is, domestic foods are in inadequate supply, low quality, or substantially higher in price than non-domestic foods.

E6. Do you use any of the following information, documented by SFAs, to verify that an exception to the Buy American provision is needed?

	Select one per row
	Yes	No
a. The domestic food product is in inadequate supply	1 m	0m
b. The domestic food product is low quality	1 m	0m
c. The domestic food product is substantially higher in price than the non-domestic food product counterpart	1 m	0m
d. Alternative domestic food product options were researched and considered	1 m	0m
e. The domestic food product availability or pricing was verified using a third-party verification (for example, the Agricultural Marketing Service report)	1 m	0m
f. Other (Specify)	1 m	0m
(STRING (NUM))

NO RESPONSE M

E1=1

E7. Does your State provide SFAs with guidance and/or a reporting template for documenting exceptions to the Buy American provision?

	Select one per row
	Yes	No
a. Our State provides SFAs with guidance	1 m	0m
b. Our State provides SFAs with a reporting template	1 m	0m

NO RESPONSE M

All

SFAs may apply the geographic preference option when procuring foods. That is, they may apply a local preference in procuring unprocessed or minimally processed agricultural products that are locally grown or raised. SFAs may define “local” as they choose. “Local” may be defined, for example, as coming from the same city/county, within a mileage radius, within a day’s drive, within the State, or within the region. SFAs may procure local foods from a variety of sources, such as farmers, ranchers, dairies, fishers, food processors, and distributors. The definition of “local” may vary across products (for example, 50 miles for apples, 100 miles for potatoes, and within the county for dairy).

E8. Do any SFAs in your State apply geographic preference when procuring local foods?

m Yes 1

m No 2

m Don’t know d

NO RESPONSE M

ALL

E9. Regardless of whether SFAs in your State apply geographic preference, does your State agency provide reimbursement or incentive to SFAs for local food procurement?

If your State participated in the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), please do not consider this in your response.

m Yes 1

m No 2 GO TO E11

m Don’t know d GO TO E11

NO RESPONSE M

E9=1

E10. How many SFAs did your State reimburse for local food procurements in SY 2022-2023?

NUMBER OF SFAs

NO RESPONSE M

All

E11. Does your State agency provide training or guidance to SFAs on local food procurement on the following topics?

	Select one per row
	Yes	No
a. How to procure local foods from different sources (for example directly from producers, through distributors, through USDA programs like DoD Fresh)	1 m	0 m
b. How to target local foods in procurement solicitations	1 m	0 m
c. Preparing and using local foods in program meals	1 m	0 m
d. Local food procurement policies and regulations	1 m	0 m
e Other topics related to local food purchasing (Specify)	1 m	0 m

NO RESPONSE M

F. WRAP-UP

F_Intro. This final section is about USDA resources and comments for FNS.

all

F1. Thinking about all resources available from USDA, do you prefer to use USDA resources online or as paper copies?

m Online 1

m Paper copies 2

m No preference 3

NO RESPONSE M

All

F2. Is there anything else FNS should know about State and local efforts to provide CN Program meals during SY 2022-2023?

No other comments 0

All

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All

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