PKG00246025-instructions.pdf

Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) Grant Program Fiscal Year 2019 Request for Applications

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number (CFDA): 10.579

Dates:

Release Date: October 31, 2018

Letter of Intent Due Date: November 15, 2018

Date of Webinar for Applicants Submitting LOIs: November 27, 2018

Application Due Date: 11:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time (EST), January 2, 2019

Anticipated Award Date: February 2019

OMB BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.

The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0512. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 150 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

On December 31, 2017, Grants.gov officially retired the legacy .PDF application package as a method to apply for a Federal grant. This changed the way many Grants.gov users completed and submitted their grant applications.

For information on Workspace application process, visit:

https://grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://communications.grants.gov/app/l/6q3KZ8jGoQl892veDQGyBvbQ/8wUMOSFAzsZ0MK9DNLgLtg/hysv8Unh3EXvtNpco6IwbQ https://communications.grants.gov/app/l/6q3KZ8jGoQl892veDQGyBvbQ/8wUMOSFAzsZ0MK9DNLgLtg/hysv8Unh3EXvtNpco6IwbQ https://grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html

Application Checklist This application checklist provides a list of the required documents; however FNS expects that applicants will read the entire RFA prior to the submission of their application.

In order to apply, at least four weeks prior to submission, you must have:

Obtained a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number;

Registered the DUNS number into the System for Award Management (SAM); and, Registered in grants.gov.

When preparing your application, ensure:

Your application format and narrative meet the requirements included in Section IV

“Application and Submission Information,” including page limits, priorities outlined in Section I, and all necessary attachments.

When preparing your budget, ensure the following information is included:

All key staff who are paid by this grant.

The percentage of time the project director will devote to the project in full-time equivalents.

Your organization’s fringe benefit amount along with the basis for the computation.

The type of fringe benefits to be covered with Federal funds.

Itemized travel expenses (including type of travel), travel justifications and basis for lodging estimates.

Types of equipment and supplies, justifications, and estimates, ensuring that the budget is in line with the project description.

Information for all contracts and justification for any sole-source contracts.

Justification, description, and itemized list of all consultant services.

Indirect cost information (either a copy of a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement

(NICRA) or if no agreement exists, the basis of the indirect costs requested). If none requested, please indicate this in the budget narrative.

When submitting your application, ensure you have submitted the following:

SF-424 – Application for Federal Assistance (fillable PDF in Grants.gov) SF-424A – Budget Information and Instruction Form (fillable PDF in Grants.gov) SF-424B – Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (fillable PDF in Grants.gov) SF-LLL - Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.

FNS-906 - Grant Program Accounting System & Financial Capability Questionnaire (in

Section VIII) Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (PDF - Upload using the “Add Attachments” button under SF-424 item #15) http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms.html https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SFLLL_1_2-V1.2.pdf

Table of Contents

PAGE

I. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

II. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

VI. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

VII. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES

BACKGROUND

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-80) provided authority and funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to demonstrate and evaluate methods of reducing or preventing food insecurity and hunger among children in the summer months. In response, USDA has supported Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) demonstrations in twelve States and Tribal Nations since 2011 to test different methods of providing nutrition assistance through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) technology. USDA received appropriations in FYs 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 to continue this work. For FY19, USDA received $28 million in additional appropriations for the summer demonstrations. In addition, USDA has unspent funds from prior years that may be awarded through this Request For Applications (RFA).

FISCAL YEAR 2019 FUNDING PRIORITIES

Overview

USDA’s mission includes providing leadership on nutrition issues through fact-based, data-driven, and customer focused decision making. USDA also strives to be customer focused in all that it does, and to safeguard taxpayer resources. To that end, USDA prioritizes demonstration projects that test solutions to real-world problems and provide insight into options for strengthening programs so that they are delivered efficiently, effectively, and with integrity.

With this RFA, USDA is launching a fresh phase of the Summer EBT demonstrations focusing on new projects that will test innovative strategies for building and operating Summer EBT projects efficiently, effectively, and with integrity. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate how Summer EBT can best be deployed as a complement to other Federal, State, and local efforts to feed needy children in the summer, and operated in a way that makes efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

To achieve this, USDA will competitively select projects that will advance the Department’s research priorities and inform future policy discussions through fact-based and data-driven analysis. In FY19, USDA will prioritize the following types of projects in the order listed below:

1. New projects (i.e., projects that are led by a State agency that has not served as the lead agency or a partner agency in the operation of a Federally-funded demonstration providing EBT benefits to children during the summer months in any prior year);

2. New projects (as defined above) that will provide benefits to eligible children beginning in summer 2019;

3. Projects that would implement Summer EBT as part of a statewide strategy to address the nutritional needs of low-income children during the summer; and

4. Projects that demonstrate effective coordination among project partners to provide superior customer service for participating children and their households.

In addition, USDA expects to work closely with successful applicants to monitor and evaluate project integrity and administrative costs.

USDA intends to approve multi-year project plans that will provide benefits to eligible children for three consecutive summers. This multi-year approach will allow successful applicants more time to build and refine their projects, and provide the certainty needed to make investments that will be used across several years.

FY19 Funding Priorities

1. New Projects USDA views States as laboratories of innovation and seeks to learn from States strategies for implementing Summer EBT projects effectively, efficiently, and with integrity, in order to best serve participants and the American taxpayer. Working with new States will allow USDA to gain a fresh perspective into approaches to building and implementing a Summer EBT demonstration project.

Highest priority will be given to projects that are led by a State agency that has not served as the lead agency or a partner agency in the operation of a Federally-funded demonstration providing EBT benefits to children during the summer months in any prior year. USDA may also consider projects led by a State agency that has served as the lead agency or a partner agency in the operation of a Federally-funded demonstration providing EBT benefits to children during the summer months in any prior year; however, such applicants should propose to serve a substantially new population than was served in prior years. Regardless of prior applicant experience, all proposals must meet the requirements and priorities of this RFA.

2. New Projects Offering Benefits in Summer 2019 High priority will be given to new projects (as defined above) that will provide benefits to eligible children beginning in summer 2019 and continuing service through summer 2021.

Applicants that begin offering benefits in 2019 may propose to operate on a limited scale in 2019 while testing new systems before beginning full implementation in 2020. USDA may also consider projects that will begin offering benefits in summer 2020 and continue service through summer 2022.

3. Statewide Plan USDA’s summer meal programs, including the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO), are an important part of the nutrition safety net for America’s children, and provide nutrition assistance for low-income children who rely on the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) during the school year.

However, feeding children in need during the summer cannot be accomplished using a one-size-fits-all approach. This is why USDA is testing other options for reaching children in need who have limited or no access to nutrition assistance when school is not in session. Summer EBT has the potential to fill areas of unmet need by building on the strengths of school meal programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and targeting resources to communities and populations that are difficult to serve through existing programs.

USDA will prioritize projects that implement a strategy to ensure that all eligible, low-income children within the State or Tribal jurisdiction have a practical option for nutrition assistance in the summer. This will require close coordination among State agencies, schools, and other partners to assess existing Federal, State, and local nutrition programs, identify communities and populations that are underserved, and determine where Summer EBT is the best tool to fill unmet needs.

4. Customer Service and Coordination Enhancing customer service is a USDA strategic priority that is integrated across all USDA programs. Through the Summer EBT demonstrations, USDA and partnering States have the opportunity to incorporate customer service throughout the development of new projects to ensure that the end result delivers a high-quality customer experience. Earlier Summer EBT projects have demonstrated that close coordination among State agencies and schools supports better customer service, more efficient administration of benefits, and strong community engagement. Close coordination among agencies and schools also helps projects recognize potential issues, overcome challenges, and support successful operations.

USDA will prioritize projects that demonstrate strong cooperation and coordination among State agencies, schools, and other stakeholders to efficiently identify all eligible children in the approved service area and provide superior customer service to children and their households.

USDA seeks projects that will integrate Summer EBT as part of year-round efforts to provide nutrition assistance and nutrition education to children, in order to ensure a seamless transition for participating children between free or reduced price school meals and Summer EBT.

Integrity and Cost Efficiency Program integrity and fiscal accountability are essential to meeting the mission of all USDA nutrition programs and are the cornerstone of a successful Summer EBT project. Successful applicants are expected to work cooperatively with USDA to monitor and evaluate project integrity, efficiency, and costs. USDA and selected awardees will identify risks for improper payments (e.g., food benefits delivered to and/or redeemed by ineligible individuals, or food benefits not delivered to eligible individuals), and will develop strategies to ensure high levels of project integrity. USDA will also work with awardees to track and analyze administrative costs, with an emphasis on determining which are necessary to build a new project, which on-going costs are fixed and which are variable, and what are the optimal costs for operating Summer EBT on a larger scale and on a continuous basis.

Under this solicitation:

• USDA intends to competitively select multi-year project(s) that will provide benefits to children for three consecutive summers. Highest priority will be given to new projects that will begin offering benefits in summer 2019 and continue service through summer 2021. Applicants that can offer benefits in 2019 may propose to operate on a limited scale in 2019 while testing new systems before beginning full implementation in 2020. USDA may also consider projects that will begin offering benefits in summer 2020 and continue service through summer 2022.

• USDA may support demonstrations across two EBT models:

o A debit card model, through which Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

(SNAP) EBT systems are used to allow participants to redeem benefits for SNAP-eligible foods at SNAP-authorized retailers; and/or o A food package model, through which Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) EBT systems are used to allow participants to redeem benefits for a prescribed set of foods at WIC-authorized retailers.

• USDA will accept applications only from State agencies that have agreements with USDA to administer the NSLP or SBP, SNAP, or WIC, including Indian Tribal Organizations (ITO) operating WIC. USDA will accept applications from only one eligible State agency per State or ITO. Any State or ITO applying to use a WIC EBT system to distribute benefits must be operating WIC EBT statewide by January 1, 2019 to be eligible for an award.

• Funds will be awarded as cooperative agreements with the requirement that the awardee will work closely with USDA and its designees to implement, operate, and evaluate projects to meet the research needs and priorities of the Department.

• The number and value of awards will be contingent on the number of applications received that meet the requirements of the RFA and Departmental priorities, and the availability of funds.

• USDA will approve multi-year project plans and budgets through this RFA.

Administrative funds to support the full project through completion will be approved through this RFA, and will be disbursed on an annual basis. Food benefit funds will also be disbursed on an annual basis as needed to support the number of children approved to serve each summer.

• USDA reserves the right to use this solicitation and competition to award additional grants in this or subsequent fiscal years should additional funds be made available.

DEMONSTRATION DETAILS

Statewide Plan - Service Areas and Populations Served. Applicants should propose a strategy to ensure that all eligible children within the entire State or Tribal jurisdiction have a practical option for nutrition assistance in the summer. The demonstration service area may consist of one or more areas in which options for nutrition assistance in the summer are limited and/or in which there are specific populations that are difficult to serve (e.g., low-income children living in school districts that are not area-eligible for open sites in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)). Service areas may be determined by the boundaries of school food authorities (SFAs), school districts, counties, cities, or any other distinguishable features. Successful applications will require close coordination among State agencies, schools, and other partners to assess existing Federal, State, and local nutrition programs, identify communities and populations that are underserved in the summer, and determine where Summer EBT is the best tool to fill unmet needs. Summer EBT is not intended to replace existing programs; it is expected that the applicant will maintain existing nutrition assistance programs at current levels or provide a thorough justification for any reduction in service.

• Proposals should describe nutrition assistance options currently available to low-income children during the summer months throughout the State (e.g., USDA Summer Meal Programs including the SFSP and the Seamless Summer Option of the National School Lunch Program, State-supported nutrition programs, meals or food provided by non-profits such as food banks).

• Proposals should identify and describe specific areas or populations that are underserved or difficult to serve using current Federal, State, or local resources. Explain why these areas or populations are underserved. Describe what efforts have been made to improve nutrition assistance in the summer for low-income children in these areas and the outcome of these efforts. Explain how many children you propose to serve each summer.

Applicants proposing to operate on a limited scale in 2019 while testing new systems before beginning full implementation in 2020 should identify the populations that will be served in 2019 and the populations that will be served in later years.

• Proposals should identify and secure the cooperation of SFAs and/or schools in the proposed service area.

Household Education and Customer Service Support. Proposals should demonstrate strong cooperation and coordination among State agencies, schools, and other stakeholders to provide superior customer service to children and their households throughout the year to ensure a seamless transition between school meals and Summer EBT. Many children who receive free or reduced price school meals do not participate in SNAP or WIC; therefore, while some of the demonstration participants will be familiar with the use of an EBT card, many will not. In addition, it can be challenging to communicate with households for whom up-to-date contact information is not readily available, especially when school is not in session. Ideally, eligible households should have access to their Summer EBT benefits and be fully educated on the purpose and use of the EBT benefit before the end of the child’s school year.

• Proposals should address the types of customer support needed and the time period during the year they will take place (e.g., educating eligible households about the project, explaining the consent process, updating household information, delivering benefits, training on EBT use, nutrition education).

• Proposals should discuss the methods that will be used to communicate with households (e.g., postal mail, email, fliers, telephone, texting, social media, mobile apps, hotlines, in-person) and how these will be used to communicate effectively with the population proposed to serve.

• Proposals should discuss how, when, and by whom (e.g. school staff, local SNAP or WIC staff, State staff, EBT contractors) awardees will provide customer support and train participating families on card use and the purpose of the benefit.

• Applicants should address issues such as participant confidentiality and limited English proficiency with respect to program materials and customer service support.

• For food package model projects, all households should receive education regarding how to recognize food package-eligible retailers and foods, and current WIC households should receive information on how they can manage both accounts at the store.

• For debit card model projects, all households should receive nutrition education to support healthy purchases of the types and quantities of food most appropriate for school-aged children.

Eligible Children. It is the responsibility of the awardee to confirm the eligibility of each participating child for each summer of the project. For the purposes of this demonstration “Eligible Child” means a child who meets all of the following criteria:

1. The child attended a school participating in the NSLP and/or SBP in the approved service area during the school year immediately preceding each summer in which benefits are issued; and

2. The child was approved to receive free or reduced price school meals during the school year immediately preceding each summer in which benefits are issued.

Any child who does not meet both conditions during the school year immediately preceding each summer in which benefits are issued should not receive benefits for that summer. Applicants will not need to identify children for a control group; all eligible children approved to serve through this RFA may be provided Summer EBT benefits.

For the purposes of this demonstration, USDA will permit awardees to provide benefits to children attending Community Eligibility Program (CEP) schools as follows, although applicants may propose other methods:

1. Allow schools/districts with an Identified Student Percentage (ISP) above 62.5% to serve all children;

2. For schools/districts with an ISP below 62.5%, only allow directly certified children to receive benefits;

3. Allow awardees to serve otherwise eligible children attending schools that have an ISP below 62.5% if those children are members of a households where at least one child in the household is eligible for Summer EBT (e.g., another child in the household is determined to be eligible through application); and

4. Allow schools to use a group ISP. Awardees that choose to use a group ISP must use the same grouping as is used in NSLP/SBP and should consult with USDA to confirm that the grouping is permissible and in keeping with the intent of the Summer EBT demonstrations.

Benefit Levels and Use. The benefit level is $30 per month per eligible child throughout the summer. The amount of benefits expended will be contingent on the number of eligible children approved to serve.

• For applicants proposing to operate a food package model demonstration, each household selected to participate in the demonstration will receive a monthly Summer EBT food package for each eligible child in the household. USDA has created a Summer EBT food package composed of WIC-eligible foods, including milk, cereal, eggs, bread/grains, beans or peanut butter, and an $8 voucher for fresh fruits and vegetables. The value of the monthly food package is approximately $30 each. A copy of the food package is found in Attachment F – Summer EBT Food Package on page 62 of this RFA. Applicants may propose cost neutral changes to the food package to best meet the needs of the population they are proposing to serve, including adding foods that are not currently WIC-eligible.

Applicants proposing changes to the food package must include a cost estimate for a single monthly package.

• For applicants proposing to operate a debit card model demonstration, each household selected to participate in the demonstration will receive a $30 per month benefit for each eligible child in the household.

If a consenting household contains more than one eligible child, the total benefits for all eligible children in that household will be loaded onto one card. Please note that Summer EBT benefits are exempt from State and local sales tax. All SNAP authorized retailers in debit card model States, and all WIC authorized retailers in food package model States, must participate in Summer EBT. Summer EBT cards will be valid for the same items as are SNAP benefits for debit card model demonstrations, or for the foods prescribed in the Summer EBT food package for food package model demonstrations.

Integration with Current EBT System. Summer EBT will utilize the existing EBT system currently in place for SNAP in debit card model States or WIC in food package model states.

However, a new Letter of Credit (LOC) is needed to separate the Summer EBT food benefit funding from SNAP or WIC food benefit funding. Applicants should note that an additional LOC and Automated Standard for Application Payments (ASAP) account will also be used for the administrative award for this project (i.e., projects will require two LOCs and two ASAP accounts that are separate from the existing WIC or SNAP LOC and ASAP accounts).

Applicants should propose how the SNAP or WIC infrastructure will be used in the most efficient way to provide Summer EBT benefits, provide user support, and track the redemptions from individual households. Applicants should also discuss how the system will be designed to collect and report required data as described in the Demonstration Deliverables section on page 19 of this RFA.

When planning the EBT process for this demonstration, the applicant should consider the needs of users and retailers, and how the system can be designed to provide excellent customer service.

The system should be as simple as possible for retailers to manage and the cards should be intuitively easy to use by recipient households. The Summer EBT process developed by the applicant should address concerns including, but not limited to:

• Identification of benefits as “Summer EBT for Children” demonstration benefits;

• Branding to encourage and emphasize benefit use for the household’s school-age children;

• The potential impact on household acceptance and ease-of-use of providing summer benefits on existing SNAP or WIC cards, versus providing separate summer benefit cards for SNAP or WIC households;

• Communicating to households specifics about the project, such as expiration of benefits, and that the benefits are only provided for the summer months;

• Interoperability of EBT cards among States for debit card model demonstrations;

• Training and customer service support of recipient households and retailers;

• Potential for stigma felt by households resulting from the appearance of or wording on the card; and

• Expunging or expiration of benefits and return of expunged or expired funds to USDA.

The awardee, in collaboration with its State and local partners, will need to make adjustments to its SNAP or WIC EBT systems and procedures to ensure that SNAP or WIC and Summer EBT transactions are recorded separately. System adjustments should be implemented in a way that does not impede the normal functioning of the SNAP or WIC program. Such adjustments may call for EBT contract modifications. Applicants should think carefully about the time and effort needed to modify contracts and if the lifecycle of current or upcoming contracts will be compatible with a Summer EBT project. Applicants must discuss whether, why, when, and how contract modifications will be made. If no contract modifications are necessary, the applicant should discuss why not. In order to alleviate potential time pressures inherent in the contract modification process, applicants are encouraged to begin developing contract modifications or to place options in new contracts that would cover the Summer EBT demonstration as soon as awards under this RFA are made.

Applicants must provide a letter of support from the EBT processor that demonstrates the processor fully understands and accepts the requirements and procedures necessary to offer Summer EBT benefits. Applicants must also address any current or planned EBT conversion, if applicable.

Food package model programs: Applicants must discuss whether and, if so, how they will establish new bank identification numbers (BINs) for this demonstration so that EBT processors can differentiate Summer EBT transactions from WIC transactions. Proposals also should discuss why the chosen design was selected.

Debit card model programs: Summer EBT and SNAP funds cannot be comingled by USDA because Summer EBT and SNAP funds come from separate Federal appropriations. Therefore, the EBT system must be designed so that it provides the necessary accounting to draw funding for food benefits from separate LOCs for each program, through separate accounts in the ASAP system. Applicants must ensure their EBT processors understand and will support and separately track SNAP and Summer EBT food benefit funds as two different programs with different sources of funding. A Store Tracking and Redemption System (STARS) Net Retailer Credit report should not be produced for Summer EBT transactions, and Summer EBT transactions should not be included with the regular STARS file for SNAP transactions. Further, Summer EBT transactions should be excluded from, or separately identified in, the Anti-Fraud Locator using EBT Retailer Transactions (ALERT) file for SNAP transactions. Although Summer EBT transactions do not need to be reported with the State’s ALERT file for SNAP transactions, applicants must ensure that Summer EBT transaction data is recorded in a file equivalent to the ALERT file for research and evaluation purposes.

Applicants should discuss how the EBT processor will differentiate Summer EBT funds from SNAP funds, for example by the use of separate bank identification number (BIN), accounts, cards, or benefit identifiers. Applicants may wish to consider, as a template, the processes used for funding of State SNAP and cash programs, if applicable. Proposals also should discuss why the chosen design was selected.

USDA will work with successful applicants to establish a new ASAP account for food benefits and obligate the full value of the benefits through the associated LOC. This account will be accessed and managed by the State agency, but as with SNAP, the State Agency may designate the processor as their agent, and allow them to draw from the ASAP account the funds needed to cover daily Summer EBT redemptions.

Benefit Delivery. The applicant must propose which entity(ies) will be responsible for developing, securing, and distributing the Summer EBT cards and how the applicant will collect and maintain the data from consenting households necessary to create and track the cards.

• The applicant must describe the household data required to create a case file for Summer EBT recipients, how this data will be obtained, and any anticipated challenges with data quality or availability. Because a social security number is not required for school meal eligibility, applicants must propose a method for handling cases without using a social security number.

• The applicant should discuss the resources needed to create a case file and issue benefits.

The applicant should also describe how the project will be designed to quickly and efficiently open cases so that initial benefits will be delivered to recipients before the end of the school year. The applicant should consider important issues such as other users of EBT systems, upcoming system changes, staff hours needed per case/activity, resources necessary to process school data, and the extent to which processes can be automated.

• The applicant must propose the method of card distribution (e.g. home delivery by U.S.

mail or other means, pick-up at school or SNAP or WIC office) and the issuance cycle for benefits. The applicant should bear in mind the need to maintain confidentiality of students’ free or reduced-price eligibility status when considering how to deliver benefits.

The applicant should also propose a method for managing incorrect addresses and handling returned mail.

• Applicants should describe their proposed issuance method and cycle, as well as how partial months’ benefits will be loaded, and, if necessary, how unused prior month benefits will be made available for continued use. Benefits should be provided or loaded onto the EBT cards on a monthly or more frequent basis rather than in one lump sum at the beginning of the summer.

Households receiving Summer EBT cards must be able to redeem them for SNAP-approved foods at any SNAP authorized retailer, or foods included in the Summer EBT food package at any WIC authorized retailer, respectively.

Food package model projects: Applicants should note that Summer EBT must not have a negative impact on WIC clinic operations. Many Summer EBT recipients will not be WIC recipients. USDA encourages applicants to find alternatives to WIC clinics in regard to distribution of cards and training, at least for non-WIC participating families.

Retailer Participation and Training. All SNAP authorized retailers in debit card model States and all WIC authorized retailers in food package model states must participate in Summer EBT.

Summer EBT cards will be valid for the same items as are SNAP benefits for debit card model demonstrations, or the foods prescribed in the Summer EBT food package for food package model demonstrations. Proposals should take into account the need for interoperability of Summer EBT benefits, should participants need to use their benefits outside of the demonstration area. Retailers throughout the State, not just in the demonstration area, must be able to redeem

Summer EBT demonstration food benefits. Proposals should attempt to offer the simplest, most seamless process to food retailers as possible. Applicants shall propose adequate training for food retailers on their proposed system of using and processing Summer EBT benefits. At a minimum, retailers in selected States must be informed of the demonstration project, notified about the amounts and types of foods in the Summer EBT food package for food package model demonstrations, and provided information about the appearance of the Summer EBT cards. The goal is for the summer benefit to be transparent to retailers and require no or minimal effort on their part.

Identifying Eligible Children and Obtaining Consent. Proposals must discuss plans for identifying eligible children, contacting households to obtain consent to participate in the project, and addressing challenges with the availability and quality of household data.

Specific to identifying eligible children, the applicants should:

• Propose a process to identify potential participants and confirm eligibility to receive Summer EBT benefits. Clearly explain the roles and responsibilities of all project partners that will have a role in this process, and identify who is ultimately responsible for confirming eligibility.

• Explain how children will be grouped into households and what data or resources are available to complete this process.

• Discuss what data will be used to support these activities, challenges with data quality or availability, and how to contact households whose current contact information is difficult to obtain.

Specific to contacting households, the applicants should:

• Propose how and by whom the households in the demonstration service area will be contacted initially. Discuss approaches for contacting eligible households that cannot be located with current school records.

• Propose how the applicant will request and obtain household participation and confidentiality waivers for use by demonstration partners (e.g., the State EBT agency, USDA) to contact consenting households.

• Applicants choosing active consent (opt-in) must describe how they will obtain consent.

Applicants choosing passive consent (opt-out) must describe the process for confirming contact information and how they will carry out opt-out procedures.

• Propose how contact data of those consenting to participate will be transferred to partners including USDA or its designees. Describe any agreements/memoranda of understanding that will need to be in place to facilitate data sharing.

• Propose how benefits will be issued to consenting households.

Use and Confidentiality of Household Information. Awardees must identify and ultimately contact households with children eligible for free and reduced-price school meals in the SFAs and/or schools participating in the demonstration project. In addition, USDA or its designee may request access to this information for research purposes. The first priority of the awardee with respect to this information is protecting household confidentiality. The law governing the School Meal Programs, the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et seq.), places limits on the disclosure of free and reduced-price eligibility information. While an individual child’s free or reduced-price eligibility status may be shared with other Federal nutrition program administrators (such as SNAP or WIC), the law does not authorize release of household contact information for these children without first obtaining the consent of the child’s parent or guardian. Therefore, for purposes of the Summer EBT, the SFA or school(s) participating in the demonstration project must be the entity that makes the first contact about the demonstration project with the households of children certified for free and reduced-price meals.

Once the SFA receives consent from the households to release contact information, the future involvement of the SFA in the demonstration project can vary.

Applicants must thoroughly describe the role of SFAs in the demonstration project, including safeguards to ensure that household confidentiality is protected. Proposals should discuss how household data is maintained at the school level, how accurate the household contact data is, how the school will obtain the necessary confidentiality waivers, how the applicant will provide translated materials and translation services for households with limited English proficiency, and how they will attempt to locate families they may not have been able to locate with their existing data. USDA strongly encourages applicants to consider additional uses for initial household contacts such as explanation of the demonstration, program information, or other updates.

Administrative Structure. These demonstrations will require close cooperation among local SFAs, schools, State agencies overseeing School Meal Programs, SNAP or WIC, and EBT processors. Applicants should propose and justify the most appropriate administrative structure for the demonstration, determining which division or agency should lead the project, and thus be the awardee, and how partners will communicate and coordinate. Applicants should address the availability of partners at key times of the year (e.g., sufficient staff to confirm eligibility and open cases in the spring, availability of school staff during the late spring and early summer).

Applicants must identify and provide resumes for the project leader as well as lead personnel in each participating entity, including an evaluation liaison who is authorized to coordinate State agency activities with any USDA evaluation.

Applicants must provide letters of commitment, or memoranda of understanding or agreement, or similar agreements from individuals authorized to commit the identified staff and/or agency resources within all of the schools, SFAs, partnering local and State agencies and EBT contractors (if applicable) expected to participate in this project.

Together, these agreements should provide an overview of the expected duties of each agency, partner, or staff member, as well as address data sharing and confidentiality measures. The documentation should demonstrate that each partner has a full understanding of the requirements and procedures necessary to offer Summer EBT benefits, and the ability to complete all necessary activities in the timeframes proposed.

Work Plan with Implementation Schedule. The proposal must include a work plan and schedule that covers the entire grant period. The timeline must include a proposed benefit period that aligns as closely as possible with the summer period during which children in the proposed service area are not in school. Activities should be scheduled so that households receive their benefits and any education or training before the first day of the first benefit period to ensure a seamless transition between school meals and Summer EBT.

For projects offering benefits in summer 2019, the proposal must include a work plan and schedule through the end of the grant period in 2022. The work plan and schedule should include details on all activities necessary for successful project implementation in summer 2019, and any activities related to the 2020 and 2021 project years that will occur in calendar year 2019. The work plan and schedule should include significant activities or milestones for all three years in which benefits will be offered, as well the period after summer 2021 operations end through the time that the grant closes in March 2022. Precise details for the 2020 and 2021 project years do not need to be included with the work plan and schedule in the application. USDA will work with awardees on more detailed timelines for the 2020 and 2021 project years at a later time.

Applicants proposing to begin offering benefits in 2020 should provide a work plan and schedule beginning at the time of award and ending when the grant closes in March 2023. The work plan and schedule should include details on all activities necessary for successful project implementation in summer 2020, and any activities related to the 2021 and 2022 project years that will occur in calendar years 2019 or 2020. The work plan and schedule should include significant activities or milestones for all three years in which benefits will be offered, as well the period after summer 2022 operations end through the time that the grant closes in March 2023. Precise details for the 2021 and 2022 project years do not need to be included in the application. USDA will work with awardees on more detailed timelines for the 2021 and 2022 project years at a later time.

Regardless of when benefits will first be offered, the applicant should plan for activities including, but not limited to, the following:

• The beginning and end dates of the summer period for the first summer that benefits will be offered (i.e., the period during which benefits will be available for participants to spend), and the beginning and end dates for each benefit period.

• For food package model programs, programming and retailer system changes necessary to accommodate the food package for the Summer EBT demonstration (no new foods, categories/subcategories, or UPC/PLUs will be needed unless the applicant proposes to include foods in the food package that are not currently WIC-eligible);

• Design and acquisition of the EBT-based summer benefit cards that will respond to a second or different letter of credit from the SNAP or WIC benefits if necessary;

• Reprogramming of relevant EBT-related code by EBT staff and/or contractors, including changes needed to track funding from separate letters of credit;

• Identifying children and confirming their eligibility to participate, grouping children into households, and obtaining current contact information for heads of household;

• Working with local SFAs to initially contact potential demonstration households and obtain their consent to participate in the demonstration;

• Working with local SFAs to notify and educate households on the purpose of the benefits and how to use them;

• Notification and training of retailers;

• Reprogramming of retailer register systems or WIC Management Information Systems, if necessary for benefit issuance;

• Distribution of the cards to consenting households;

• Resolving difficult cases (e.g., children whose eligibility is unclear or whose household composition or contact information is not known, mail returned as undeliverable) and issuing benefits if appropriate;

• Ongoing customer service and support for households;

• Expiring benefits so that they are no longer available for households to spend at the end of the summer (or last benefit period). Ideally, benefits should expire as near as possible to the day before the first day of the new school year;

• Expungement and return of any unused funds on a schedule agreeable to USDA;

• Debrief activities after the first summer in which benefits are provided;

• Significant activities or milestones for the entire grant period, and details on all activities that will occur from the time of award through the end of the calendar year in which benefits are first offered; and

• Preparation of a progress report and other required deliverables (see Demonstration Deliverables on page 19).

Administrative Costs. The applicant should propose a budget for administrative costs for the whole project sufficient to support operations through the end of the grant in 2022, or 2023 if proposing to begin offering benefits in summer 2020. Proposals must clearly identify the fiscal year in which costs will be incurred. For continuous or reoccurring costs, the amount needed for each fiscal year for the duration of the grant should be provided. That is, the line-item budget must include specific columns for cost allocations for each of Federal fiscal years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, if applicable. The 424a should also allocate funding in separate Federal fiscal years. The administrative budget proposal should include costs for all participating government organizations (e.g., awardee, schools, non-lead State agencies) and private partners (e.g., EBT processor, vendors).

Administrative costs will be considered in two parts: start-up and operating costs. The applicant must provide one budget narrative that separately identifies start-up costs (e.g., EBT programming, systems changes, card design, and production) and on-going operating costs (e.g., user support, data management, benefit redemption, household education and customer service support, household outreach). Narratives should justify why proposed costs are considered start-up or operational and the time period in which the cost will be incurred. While start-up and operating costs should be identified in the narrative, they should not be separated in the line-item budget.

Applicants may submit a pre-award request for authorization to begin selected project activities prior to receiving program funding. The pre-award request should be included in the budget narrative rather than a separate document. Limited authorizations for pre-award spending by successful applicants may be approved. However, applicants must use non-program funds to support such activities until the grant award is received. Any pre-award costs are spent at the applicant’s own risk and will not be reimbursed for costs that are not approved through this opportunity.

Applicants should note that two separate LOCs and ASAP accounts will be used for this project, one for the administrative award and a second for the food benefit award.

Food Costs. USDA will work with selected applicants to determine the amount of food funds needed to support the number of children approved to serve. Food benefit funds will be disbursed on an annual basis as needed to support the number of children approved to serve each summer.

Food package model proposals should assume that food costs will be paid in the same way as WIC benefits are paid, utilizing the WIC redemption infrastructure (e.g., funds maintained by the State Agency bank for food package model projects). If the WIC State agency is not the lead agency (awardee), the lead agency will need to provide funds to the WIC agency for Summer EBT food benefits. The WIC agency will need to determine if they have the capability to accept non-WIC funds into its account, and would need to establish a process for doing so.

Debit card model proposals should assume that food cost payments will follow the process outlined in the “Integration with Current EBT Systems” and “Benefit Delivery” sections discussed previously.

Applicants should note that two separate LOCs and ASAP accounts will be used for this project, one for the administrative award and a second for the food benefit award.

Application Requirements. Strong applications will address all of the topics discussed in the Fiscal Year 2019 Funding Priorities section on pages 5-7, and the Demonstration Details section on pages 19-21 of this RFA. A template is included in Attachment A—Application Template on page 46. Applicants should use the format provided in the template, including titling and numbering systems. Applications that do not follow the format will receive a reduced score.

Evaluation. As these grant funds are intended to evaluate options for providing nutrition assistance in the summer months, USDA will evaluate the Summer EBT demonstrations and may contract with an outside firm for assistance. To support the evaluation, USDA and the awardees will need to collect and analyze information on:

• Nutrition assistance options currently available to low-income children during the summer months throughout the State, and the underserved areas or populations identified for Summer EBT service.

• The process of establishing, launching, and operating Summer EBT, including schedules, roles and responsibilities, and implementation challenges.

• EBT issuance and transaction date, participation data, and other program data as described in the Demonstration Deliverables section on page 19 of this RFA.

• The costs of start-up and on-going operations, benefits, and any other costs of the Summer EBT that are incurred by Federal, State, and local governments, providers, and retailers.

• Areas of risk that could result in improper payments (i.e., food benefits delivered to and/or redeemed by ineligible individuals, or food benefits not delivered to eligible individuals), any processes put in place to prevent or detect improper payments, and any actual instances of improper payments.

• Any additional concepts that the awardee proposes to test and evaluate.

As a condition of award, the awardee and its partners will be required to cooperate fully with USDA or its designees to ensure…