Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness

 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES

Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness

Child Nutrition Program State Waiver Request

Child Nutrition Programs are expected to be administered according to all statutory and regulatory requirements; waivers to the requirements are exceptions. However, Section 12(l) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. 1760(l), provides authority for USDA to waive requirements for State agencies or eligible service providers under certain circumstances. When requesting the waiver of statutory or regulatory requirements for the Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs), including the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), the Special Milk Program (SMP), and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), State agencies and eligible service providers should use this template. State agencies and eligible service providers should consult with their FNS Regional Offices when developing waiver requests to ensure a well-reasoned, thorough request is submitted. State agencies and eligible service providers are encouraged to submit complete waiver requests at least 60 calendar days prior to the anticipated implementation date. Requests submitted less than 60 calendar days prior to the anticipated implementation should be accompanied by an explanation of extenuating circumstances.

For more information on requests for waiving Program requirements, refer to SP 15-2018, CACFP 12-2018, SFSP 05-2018, Child Nutrition Program Waiver Request Guidance and Protocol- Revised, May 24, 2018.

1.      State agency submitting waiver request and responsible State agency staff contact information: 

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS)

Lakeisha T. Hood, Director

[phone] or 1(800)504-6609

[e-mail]

 

Lisa Church, Bureau Chief of Implementation and Accountability 

[phone] Direct Line

[e-mail]

 

2.      Region: Southeast

 

3.      Eligible service providers participating in waiver and affirmation that they are in good standing: 

FDACS will ensure that sponsors participating in the waiver are in good standing by not being deemed seriously deficient for their returning sites that operated in prior summer. 

4.      Description of the challenge the State agency is seeking to solve, the goal of the waiver to improve services under the Program, and the expected outcomes if the waiver is granted. [Section 12(l)(2)(A)(iii) and 12(l)(2)(A)(iv) of the NSLA]: 

FDACS has many experienced self-prep sponsors that have utilized the waiver for the summer meal pattern and Offer Verse Serve (OVS) option at sites.  In 2018, 33 NSLP sponsors operating 740 sites used the OVS option through the Summer Food Service Program. In addition, 133 sites operating under non-NSLP sponsors were classified as OVS which equates to 3% of total sites operating.  FDACS is requesting to waive a regulatory requirement regarding the SFSP OVS and the use of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) meal pattern.  This request seeks to allow sponsors that had no deficiency in OVS with the meal pattern.  These sponsors should not be mandated to follow more restrictive NSLP meal pattern requirements, including compliance with vegetable sub-groups and sodium, fat and calorie restrictions when choosing the OVS serving option. The expected outcomes are as follows: 

         The over goal of the program is to provide nutritious meals to children who are otherwise at risk of being unserved or going without food during the school breaks.  Self-prep sponsor most familiar with OVS and many use it to meet the meal pattern requirements while reducing plate waste.  Requiring a continuation of the NSLP/SBP meal pattern for use with OVS would limit the sponsors capability of using the leftover inventory within the short summer season. In addition, requiring the use of the NSLP/SBP meal pattern would also increase the cost of food to sponsor who has already planned their summer budgets.

         Since the extension of OVS, FDACS has had sponsors utilizing the OVS and summer meal patter successfully each summer. By not allowing them to continue may discourage the sponsors participation in SFSP.

         FDACS will continue to provide training and technical assistance before and during the summer to ensure sponsors remain successful in implementation of OVS and the SFSP meal pattern.

 

5.      Specific Program requirements to be waived (include statutory and regulatory citations). [Section 12(l)(2)(A)(i) of the NSLA]: 

FDACS is requesting to waive the SFSP requirement limiting the “offer versus serve” option to School food authorities that are SFSP sponsors. [7 CFR 225.16(f)(1)(ii)] 

6.      Detailed description of alternative procedures and anticipated impact on Program operations, including technology, State systems, and monitoring: 

 

FDACS has an electronic application system known as Florida Automated Nutrition System (FANS) in which sponsor will indicated their intention to use OVS for each specific site application in FANS.  OVS continues to be an option and not a requirement for eligible sponsor and the state agency reserves to the deny sponsor request if findings related to OVS were observed in the prior operating year.  Sponsor indicating the use of OVS will require additional staff training.  FDACS staff will review the site applications and approved the OVS individually.  Sponsor/Sites demonstrating a lack understanding of OVS requirements during site visits will be immediately stopped from utilizing OVS and will be required to serve complete SFSP meals for the remained for the summer.  No additional cost associated with this waiver.  If the waiver is not approved the following will impact program operations:

 

         Impact on FDACS staff time to update training and technical assistance materials for SFSP.  Retrain sponsors, site staff and FDACS consultants and monitor compliance tools.

         Increased food cost and food waste for sponsors that no longer have the option to implement OVS

         Decreased child satisfaction with loss of choice in meal selection, resulting in decreased site participation

         These combined impacts may result in a decrease in program sponsor and sites due to increase sponsor administration burden.  This may result in decrease access to the program, a decrease in meals served to children when school is out for the summer.

 

7.      Description of any steps the State has taken to address regulatory barriers at the State level. [Section 12(l)(2)(A)(ii) of the NSLA]:

 

The flexibilities and policies rescinded by the USDA FNS on October 11, 2018 through SFSP 01-2019 Summer Food Service Program Memoranda Rescission will increase administrative burden and create barriers to program access and effective program operation. To address these barriers, FDACS is submitting this wavier. FDACS continues to implement streamlined measures and process improvement for the program.

 

8.      Anticipated challenges State or eligible service providers may face with the waiver implementation: 

 

FDACS does not anticipate any challenges with waiver implementation. 

 

9.      Description of how the waiver will not increase the overall cost of the Program to the Federal Government. If there are anticipated increases, confirm that the costs will be paid from non-Federal funds. [Section 12(l)(1)(A)(iii) of the NSLA]:

 

There is no anticipated impact on Federal administrative costs for State Agency oversight with implementation of this wavier.

 

10.  Anticipated waiver implementation date and time period: 

 

May 1, 2019, through the end of the Federal fiscal year and remain in effect for a period of five years until September 30, 2024

 

11.  Proposed monitoring and review procedures: 

 

FDACS will continue to carry our current program monitoring and review procedures.  As with any other findings, discrepancies will be recorded, documented and discussed with both site and sponsor personnel, either immediately fooling the site review or during the administrative review of the sponsor.

 

12.  Proposed reporting requirements (include type of data and due date(s) to FNS):

 

FDACS will utilize the reporting function Report Manager link to the Florida Automated Nutrition System to review how many utilize the OVS waiver.  FDACS will send the list to USDA by October 1st of every year the following:

         List of sponsors using OVS

         List of sites using OVS