FY23_TNG_Q&A.pdf

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Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Team Nutrition Grant Supporting Nutrition Education for School-Aged Children

Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) held an Informational Webinar on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 to discuss the FY 2023 Team Nutrition Grant Supporting Nutrition Education for School-Aged Children Request for Applications (RFA).

Answers to questions received during and following the webinar are provided below. Similar questions have been combined into one question and answer.

Please refer to the request for applications (RFA) for more detailed information or watch the recorded Informational Webinar.

Contents Eligibility

Personnel & Staffing

Programming

Budget

Administrative

Eligibility

Q: I operate a child care center that participates in the CACFP. Am I eligible to apply?

A: No, only State agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool Meals component and Outside School Hours Care Centers (OSHCC), and SFAs may apply. Refer to Page 16 of the RFA for more information.

Q: How do I know if my State NSLP/CACFP agency has/is applying for this year’s grant?

A: FNS encourages interested School Food Authorities (SFAs) to contact their respective State agency that administers the NSLP and/or CACFP At-Risk Afterschool Meals component or OSHCC. State agency contact information can be found at FNS Contacts.

Q: Is this grant for underserved districts only?

A: No, State agencies that administer the NSLP and/or CACFP At-Risk Afterschool Meals component and OSHCC, and SFAs are eligible applicants. Refer to Page 16 of the RFA for more information.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/fy23-grant-nutrition-education-school-children https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.fns.usda.gov/contacts?f%5B0%5D=program%3A39

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Q: If a State agency does not have a Registered Dietitian (RD) on staff, are they ineligible to apply?

A: No, the absence of a RD on staff does not preclude eligibility. As stated in the RFA, funding may be used for staffing, as outlined on Page 23 of the RFA.

Q: Can charter schools apply?

A: Yes, if you are the governing body responsible for administering the NSLP and/or SBP for your school, then you would be considered the SFA and eligible for this grant. Any applying SFA must participate in the NSLP and/or SBP. As a remainder, SFAs are only eligible to apply in cases where neither the State NSLP nor CACFP agency chose to. Refer to Page 16 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Can we apply if we currently don’t operate the CACFP?

A: Yes, if you’re a State agency or SFA that operates the NSLP, but doesn’t operate CACFP At- Risk Afterschool Meals or OSHCC, you are still eligible to apply. Refer to Page 16 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Can a State agency assist or collaborate with an SFA that is leading an application, if the State agency isn’t applying?

A: Yes. The applicant must outline the State agency’s involvement in their Project Work Plan (Attachment A) and provide a Letter of Support and Letter of Commitment as part of their application. Refer to Page 29 of the RFA for more information.

Q: As a 501(c)3 organization that serves as a sponsoring organization for several childcare centers that participate in the CACFP. Am I eligible?

A: No, only State agencies that administer the NSLP and/or CACFP At-Risk Afterschool Meals component or OSHCC, and SFAs may apply. Refer to Page 16 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Can a State with an active FY 2019, 2021, or 2022 Team Nutrition Training Grant apply for the grant?

A: Yes, State agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool Meals component and Outside School Hours Care Centers (OSHCC), and SFAs are eligible to apply. As a reminder, Team Nutrition grant funds for other USDA grants must be kept separate, so that no co-mingling of funds occur.

Personnel & Staffing

Q: Can either the Project Director or Team Nutrition Coordinator positions be filled internally? Is it allowable to hire externally?

A: Yes, the Project Director and Team Nutrition Coordinator positions can be filled either with internal or external candidates. Funding for staffing is an allowable expense as part of the FY 2023 Team Nutrition grant. As a reminder, Team Nutrition grant funds for other USDA grants https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044

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Q: Is it allowable to have 1.5 full-time equivalents (FTE) on the project in addition to the Project Director?

A: Yes, the Project Director and Team Nutrition Coordinator must be at least 0.25 FTE and 1.0 FTE respectively. Any additional FTEs outside of the total allotted 1.25 FTEs must include a justification of need. Refer to Page 23 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Can the Project Director position be split between two people?

A: No, the Project Director position must be filled by one person at 0.25 FTE. Refer to Page 23 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Can the Team Nutrition Coordinator position be split between two people?

A: No, the Team Nutrition Coordinator position must be filled by one person at 1 FTE. Refer to Page 23 of the RFA for more information.

Q: What does “Concurrent work related to other Team Nutrition grants” as part of the Project Timeline mean?

A: FNS defines this as including other nutrition education activities as part of current and active Team Nutrition grants you have been awarded, that compliment or amplify the reach of proposed grant activity. If you are not a current Team Nutrition grantee, please disregard.

Q: How will State agencies operating current FY 2022 Team Nutrition Grants manage staffing?

A: FNS recommends State agencies explore hiring new staff to implement the grant if existing staff are insufficient for managing two grants. As a reminder, grant funds for other USDA grants must be kept separate so that no co-mingling of funds occur.

Q: Under Section 2.7 Allowable Costs-Food, “All food used to sample or taste test portions must be ⅓ of a serving.” What, specifically, does this mean? Do sample portions need to be ⅓ of the serving size for the breakfast or lunch meal pattern?

A: Yes, all food served as part of a nutrition education related event may not exceed ⅓ of the serving size for the breakfast or lunch meal pattern. Portions may be smaller than ⅓ but are not to exceed that amount. Refer to Page 12 of the RFA for more information.

Q: If a State agency is going to sub-grant to an approved entity such as a land grant university, can the Team Nutrition Coordinator be at the sub-grant level?

A: No, the Team Nutrition Coordinator must be hired and retained separately and independently and cannot be hired and managed as part of a sub-grant. Team Nutrition grant funds must be kept separate from other USDA grant funding so that no co-mingling of funds occur. Refer to Page 23 of the RFA for more information.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044

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Q: Does the Team Nutrition Coordinator need to be a Registered Dietitian (RD)?

A: Yes, the Team Nutrition Coordinator must hold the RD credential. Refer to Page 23 of the RFA for more information.

Programming

Q: Under Section 3.1.1 Eligible Applicants, it says that State agencies that administer CACFP At-risk Afterschool Meals Component and OSHCC are eligible only in cases where the State agency administering the NSLP chooses not to apply. If the applying State agency only administers the NSLP, should we be including activities related to the CACFP At-risk Afterschool Meals component program?

A: No, only include grants activities that are relevant to the USDA Child Nutrition Program you administer. For example, if you only administer the CACFP At-Risk Afterschool Meals component, only specify activities related to that program. Refer to Page 18 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Is CACFP (in Early Childhood Education) an allowable audience? The RFA references “CACFP At-Risk Afterschool Programs” in multiple locations but I don’t see an indication whether other CACFP programs (preschools and daycares) are eligible audiences for the activities.

A: Yes, CACFP audiences are allowable audiences when nutrition education activities take place at schools that participate in NSLP and/or SBP. Based on the nature of the at-risk afterschool meals component of CACFP, the expectation is that most of the participating children attend school and receive free or reduced-price meals. This would include Pre-K audiences only. Refer to Page 16 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Does Team Nutrition have guidance on MyPlate Ambassadors?

A: No formal guidance exists currently, but more information related to MyPlate Ambassadors can be found at https://www.myplate.gov/professionals/partner-us/myplate-ambassadors.

MyPlate Ambassadors receive toolkits and informational newsletters from USDA to help promote MyPlate consumer messages based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. MyPlate Ambassadors can commit to any level of involvement to promote the Dietary Guidelines and MyPlate – from developing an outreach program for their community to posting a link to MyPlate.gov on their organization’s website. Refer to Page 8 of the RFA for more information.

Q: Under Section 2.3 - Sub-grant Funding, it states that the grantee may issue sub-grants to the following entities for purposes of meeting the objectives under this grant: SFAs, CACFP Sponsoring Organizations, Land-grant colleges, and universities, etc. If applying as a State agency, are we allowed to provide sub-grants to SFAs to meet grant objectives?

A: Yes, as a State agency you may award sub-grants to SFAs to meet grant objectives. As a reminder, grantees must follow allowable costs as outlined in Section 2.7.1: Allowable Costs for Sub-grants. Grantees must have oversight of all sub-grant recipients by either Project Director or Team Nutrition Coordinator, to ensure that expenditures authorized are allowable, allocable, https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.myplate.gov/professionals/partner-us/myplate-ambassadors https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044

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Q: In our proposal, are we required to implement all activities as outlined in the Logic Model or are we able to develop our own activities that we believe will meet the objectives but are not inclusive of the entire "example" list?

A: As an applicant, you are not expected to implement all example activities found in Section 1.4: Logic Model. At minimum, applicants must include at least one activity for each objective.

As stated on Page 21 of the RFA and in the Project Work Plan (Attachment A), applicants must also include, at minimum, five of the provided performance measures on page 21 within the Logic Model. Applicants may propose their own grant activities, not specified in the example activities, that are consistent with the Logic Model and selected Performance Measures. Refer to Page 9 of the RFA for more information.

Q: We are interested in working with a partner agency who currently has nutrition education materials that are directly relevant to school meals and include information consistent with MyPlate. Would it be possible to potentially utilize this existing material, in addition to the education resources listed in Appendix E?

A: Yes, applicants may use both, MyPlate nutrition education materials found in Appendix E:

Guidelines for Nutrition Education and Social Marketing Campaigns Provided Under The Grant, and other MyPlate materials developed in conjunction with other State or local partners. All nutrition education resources used for activities related to the grant are required to contain information consistent with MyPlate principles. Refer to Page 45 of the RFA for more information.

Budget

Q: Should we budget for three (3) in-person trips for annual meetings that will take place at FNS Headquarters in Alexandria, VA?

A: Yes, please include in your budget table and narrative the cost for three in-person trips. As mentioned on Page 23 of the RFA, over the course of the 3-year grant period of performance, the Project Director and Team Nutrition Coordinator will be required to attend three, in-person annual meetings hosted by USDA at FNS Headquarters in Alexandria, VA. Please note, meetings may be held virtually due to extenuating circumstances. For more information, refer to Page 23 of the RFA for other additional mandatory meetings that will take place over the course of the period of performance.

Q: On Page 24 of the RFA, it outlines that the Budget Table and Narrative cannot exceed a maximum of 3 pages. Is there a recommended breakdown of how to split the two?

A: FNS recommends allotting two (of the maximum three) pages for the budget table and one page for the budget narrative. Refer to Page 24 of the RFA for more information.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347044

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Q: Is the RD credentialing renewal fee allowable as it's a requirement to maintain RD status but for an individual rather than an institutional professional membership?

A: No, the cost of professional registration or license fees paid by individuals to maintain credentials are not allowable costs because the fees are considered personal expenses, not institutional expenses. Also, the costs of individual professional memberships in such organizations for personnel that work in school nutrition or dietetics are not allowable. Refer to Page 13 of the RFA for more information.

Administrative

Q: As a State agency, what demographic data is recommended to include in any requested Letter of Support from a SFA?

A: The demographic data recommended to include in the Letter of Support can be found at ACS-ED Dashboard. FNS recommends searching for the respective SFA using the “Search Bar”.

Once located, simply click on the “Create PDF” option in the top left corner and include with your letter and application. The dashboard, and subsequent PDF contains all relevant demographic information needed.

Q: When trying to submit my application, the “Apply” button on grants.gov is greyed out.

What should I do?

A: There could be a chance that your Grants.gov profile may not have been set up completely.

For further assistance, please reach out to the Grants.gov help desk. You can reach them via the “Support” tab on the Grants.gov home page.

https://nces.ed.gov/Programs/Edge/ACSDashboard https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html