CNP meal reimbursement

The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service awarded the Texas Department of Agriculture $55,693,532 in formula grant funding on October 1, 2025, under the State Administrative Expenses for Child Nutrition program (CFDA 10.560) to cover meal reimbursement processing and related administrative oversight through September 30, 2027.

The award funds the Texas Department of Agriculture's administrative expenses in supervising and providing technical assistance to local schools, school districts, and child nutrition program institutions across Texas. Eligible activities include meal reimbursement processing, regulatory compliance oversight, and administration of the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Special Milk, and Child and Adult Care Food Programs. The State Administrative Expenses formula allocates funds based on prior-year expenditures under child nutrition programs: one percent of National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program funds expended in the second preceding fiscal year, and a tiered percentage structure for Child and Adult Care Food Program expenditures (twenty percent of the first $50,000, ten percent of the next $100,000, five percent of the next $250,000, and two and one-half percent of any remaining funds). Texas may carry over up to twenty percent of allocated SAE funds for obligation and expenditure during the succeeding fiscal year. The Texas Department of Agriculture, a state government entity headquartered in Austin, administers large formula grants from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, distributing the bulk of child nutrition funding as sub-awards to local school districts, nonprofit organizations, and child care providers that directly deliver meals and nutrition assistance.