USDA FNS FY 2016 ART

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-265) amended Section 22 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a requirement that State agencies conduct additional administrative reviews of selected Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). It also amended Section 7 of the Child Nutrition Act to provide annual funding for States to be used for oversight and training of LEAs. Both of these requirements are focused on LEAs that have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error. To assist State agencies in achieving this requirement, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has up to $3.8 million available in fiscal year (FY) 2016 to fund Administrative Reviews and Training (ART) Grants for oversight and training. The ART grant funds will be available on a competitive basis only to the 57 State agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP), and are for the purpose of identifying, reviewing, monitoring and training LEAs that have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error. FNS is offering two types of ART Grants: Planning and Implementation. States may apply for either a Planning grant or an Implementation grant, as described within this Request for Applications (RFA), but not both in a given RFA solicitation. The purpose of this RFA is to solicit applications from eligible entities and describe: • Types of grants available; • Which entities are eligible to apply for grant funds; • Requirements for submitting a successful application; • How applications will be reviewed and selected; and • Terms and conditions that grantees must adhere to. FNS intends to work collaboratively with grant applicants and grantees throughout the application process and the life of grants awarded through this RFA. Within approximately three weeks of this RFA’s publication, FNS will conduct a webinar with all State agencies and FNS Regional offices to review the RFA and address questions regarding the application process. Notification of the webinar date, time and call-in information will be communicated to State agencies via the FNS Regional offices and the FNS Child Nutrition Program’s PartnerWeb at https://www.partnerweb.usda.gov. ART Grant Types The FY 2016 ART Grant award process involves two types of awards: • ART Planning Grants for awards up to $75,000, with grant periods of up to one year; and • ART Implementation Grants for awards up to $1,500,000, with grant periods of one to three years. State agencies may apply for either type of grant (i.e., Planning or Implementation), but not both in a given RFA solicitation. Only one grant application will be accepted from a State agency in response to this solicitation. In addition to this section, see Section IV, Application and Submission Information, for information on the required content for a grant application submission.