[OPLINLIST] Food and Libraries updates: Keep Kids Fed Act implementation, Pandemic EBT, Food access resources for your community, webinar on afterschool meals

[jdwyer at library.ohio.gov]

Cross-posted, with content from the OLC Access newsletter and the Library Youth Services list Friday Update. Please excuse duplication.

Good afternoon,

As previously announced, Congress recently passed the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022, legislation that extends waivers for federal child nutrition programs that were first issued in 2020 in response to pandemic and have been used to provide free school and summer meals.

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) will be implementing the flexibilities of the federal Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 (KKFA) for the rest of this summer. For libraries that participate as Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sites, please note that the waivers put in place by the KKFA will be in effect through September 30, 2022. These waivers include:

  *   Increased community eligibility
  *   Take-home meals and delivered meals are permitted (i.e. meals do not have to be eaten on site)
  *   Parents or guardians are permitted to pick up meals without children present.
  *   Multiple days' worth of meals permitted to be picked up at once.

Families can find a meal site near them by visiting the ODE website<https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Student-Supports/Food-and-Nutrition/Summer-Food-Service-Program>. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing food benefits for the summer months to eligible children. Federal law allows states, including Ohio to implement a temporary program called Pandemic-Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT)<https://jfs.ohio.gov/ofam/Summer-2022-PEBT-Questions-and-Answers_.stm>, which provides eligible children with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The program is administered by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.


Some additional tools to help families connect with food resources:

  *   FreshTrak (https://freshtrak.com/) is a nationwide zip code lookup for food pantries and soup kitchens with hours, community meals, free produce markets, etc.
  *   Food Finder (foodfinder.us<https://foodfinder.us/>) is a nationwide map of food pantries
  *   The USDA National Hunger Hotline: 1-866-3-HUNGRY

  *   A text-based location service: text FOOD (or COMIDA) to 304-304
  *   A mobile app called Range (www.rangeapp.org<http://www.rangeapp.org>)


And finally, if your library is an SFSP site, you may be interested in this free webinar coming up next week from No Kid Hungry:
Thinking 365: Transitioning your summer meals program to afterschool meals through CACFP At-risk
Wednesday, July 20, 3:00 pm ET
Summer is almost over, but your meal program doesn't have to be! Listen in for the final webinar in No Kid Hungry's School's Out, Food's In summer webinar series. In this webinar, you will learn from program sponsors how they successfully transition their summer program to a year-round program. Presenters include Eugenie Sellier from Feeding Alabama, Melissa Weissler from Operation Food Search, and Walter Campbell from Charleston County School District. Register here:
https://bestpractices.nokidhungry.org/webinars/thinking-365-transitioning-your-summer-meals-program-afterschool-meals-through-cacfp-risk


Sincerely,
Janet

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D8984E.B900AD50]
Janet Ingraham Dwyer (she/her)
Library Consultant
614-644-6910
jdwyer at library.ohio.gov<mailto:jdwyer at library.ohio.gov>
library.ohio.gov/youth-services<http://library.ohio.gov/youth-services>

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