[SEO-Members] Keep Kids Fed Act and summer meals

[jdwyer at library.ohio.gov]

Cross-posted. Please excuse duplication.

For libraries that participate as Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sites or support other SFSP sites in your area with referrals, programming, SRP signups, or any other collaboration, here is an update following a webinar on Wednesday, June 29 with No Kid Hungry<https://www.nokidhungry.org/>.

As you probably know, on Friday, June 24, Congress passed the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022<https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2089/text> (S. 2089), a bipartisan and bicameral bill to help mitigate the impact of the loss of the USDA child nutrition waivers that will expire on June 30 (tomorrow). These waivers impacted school meals as well as SFSP and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and other USDA child nutrition programs. They had been authorized by Congress to ease access to healthy food during the pandemic. These waivers included, among other provisions:

  *   Increased community eligibility (without the waivers, only sites located in areas where at least 50% of children are eligible for free/reduced price school meals are eligible to be SFSP/CACFP sites)
  *   Take-home meals and delivered meals (i.e. not eaten on site)
  *   Parents or guardians permitted to pick up meals without children present.
  *   Multiple days' worth of meals permitted to be picked up at once.

The Keep Kids Fed Act grants the USDA the authority to issue summer nutrition waivers through September 30, 2022. Such waivers can allow the same flexibilities in the bullet points above. However, authority is not the same as implementation. The USDA now has to create guidance for the state agencies that administer the child nutrition programs on the state level (which for us is the Ohio Department of Education). And then, the states have to decide whether and how to implement it. This will take some time. I learned on the webinar today that the USDA has scheduled a webinar for the state agencies on July 7. So there will be a gap of at least several days when the waivers are definitely not in place.

To my knowledge, libraries and other SFSP sites in Ohio are currently serving congregate (sit-down) meals, so there will be no big change on June 30. If you are an SFSP site, your sponsor will keep you informed, and I will try to communicate through the library listservs as I learn more, since libraries that are not SFSP sites may still get questions from families. Several attendees on the webinar today shared that families have heard about the Keep Kids Fed Act and some thought its passage meant that grab-and-go and parent pick-up would immediately be available. This is not the case.

With hope, the USDA and state agencies will be able to act swiftly and increase availability of healthy meals for children this summer and through next school year.

Thank you for all you do to support the families and children in your community.

Sincerely,
Janet

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D88BCA.187D2920]
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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