Legislative Affairs

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will extend meal waivers to allow continued operation of the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) through December 31, 2020. Specifically, the following waivers were extended for SFSP and SSO programs:

• Area Eligibility, which allows meals to be provided in areas that don't meet the 50 percent area eligibility;
• Non-Congregate Feeding, which allows meals to be served outside of group settings (meals can be distributed at a site where families pick up the meals, as well as be delivered to children's homes);
• Meal Service Times, which provide flexibility to the meal service time requirements by allowing service outside of standard meal times; and
• Parents and Guardians to Pick Up Meals for Children, which allows a parent or guardian to pick up meals to take home to children.
  
  

For more information about the waivers, please read the full press release on USDA's website.

ASBO International and the Legislative Advisory Committee (LAC) have been heavily advocating on this issue with USDA and Congress to extend all COVID-19-related meal waivers through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. We applaud USDA for granting this flexibility through the end of the calendar year, however we will continue to engage with the agency and with Congress to ensure districts have the support they need to serve and feed students and families during these difficult times.

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ASBO USA
asbousa@asbointl.org
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Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the extension of all Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) waivers, allowing schools to offer meals to children at no charge through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Note that the recent stopgap funding package Congress passed to avoid a federal shutdown at the end of September granted USDA the funding and authority to extend summer program waivers, however USDA had yet to announce a decision to implement its waiver authority until now. For more information, please see this USDA press release. 

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ASBO USA
asbousa@asbointl.org
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2020 16:40
From: ASBO USA
Subject: Alert: USDA Summer Meal Waivers Extended

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will extend meal waivers to allow continued operation of the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) through December 31, 2020. Specifically, the following waivers were extended for SFSP and SSO programs:

• Area Eligibility, which allows meals to be provided in areas that don't meet the 50 percent area eligibility;
• Non-Congregate Feeding, which allows meals to be served outside of group settings (meals can be distributed at a site where families pick up the meals, as well as be delivered to children's homes);
• Meal Service Times, which provide flexibility to the meal service time requirements by allowing service outside of standard meal times; and
• Parents and Guardians to Pick Up Meals for Children, which allows a parent or guardian to pick up meals to take home to children.
  
  

For more information about the waivers, please read the full press release on USDA's website.

ASBO International and the Legislative Advisory Committee (LAC) have been heavily advocating on this issue with USDA and Congress to extend all COVID-19-related meal waivers through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. We applaud USDA for granting this flexibility through the end of the calendar year, however we will continue to engage with the agency and with Congress to ensure districts have the support they need to serve and feed students and families during these difficult times.

------------------------------
ASBO USA
asbousa@asbointl.org
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