QCC WEBINAR: October 14, 2020: Feeding a Need: Increasing Meal Access in These Changing Times

ICYMI: USDA Waiver Extension Announcement: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/10/09/trump-administration-extends-free-meals-kids-entire-school-year

No Kid Hungry Statement Regarding Waiver Extensions:
On Friday, October 9, the USDA announced the extension of several essential nationwide summer meals program waivers. Here are three things to know about USDA’s announcement:

• This extension includes the waiver that allows schools and non-profit sponsors to utilize the summer meals programs during the school year regardless of school operating status. The USDA has also extended waivers to support safe, efficient and accessible meal service through the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option, like the non-congregate, area eligibility, and meal service time waivers.
• Previously, these waivers were set to expire on December 31, 2020. Now, these flexibilities are available through June 30, 2021. 
• Earlier this fall, Congress passed the “continuing resolution” budget agreement which extended the USDA’s authority to issue nationwide waivers through September 2021. It also provided supplemental funding to support waiver flexibilities. 

We applaud the USDA for acting quickly on its extended authority in order to help schools and sponsors better plan for the rest of this school year. We encourage schools and sponsors that have not yet opted in to these waivers to work with their state agency to do so. This will help ensure that children have access to nutritious meals throughout this school year.

Resources from our speakers:

• Measurement Chart for Curbside Meal Service from Adelando Elementary School District
• Register for monthly Community of Practice Calls hosted by LunchAssist

New resource from No Kid Hungry:

• No Kid Hungry has created a brand new School Meals Marketing Toolkit to help you get the word out to families that school meals are available for all kids this year at no cost. It includes a variety of both ready to use and customizable assets— available in both English and Spanish— to use on your digital channels and to print and share with families. The toolkit includes social media images, sample social media posts, flyers, robocall scripts and a customizable letter to families. We hope you’ll share these resources far and wide. Be sure to subscribe to our Center for Best Practices newsletter to receive updates about this and other resources, or check out our back-to-school landing page.