{"id":11589,"date":"2020-03-12T17:36:41","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T17:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/pennsylvania\/?p=11589"},"modified":"2020-03-12T18:16:55","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T18:16:55","slug":"what-coronavirus-means-for-hungry-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/pennsylvania\/2020\/03\/12\/what-coronavirus-means-for-hungry-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Share Our Strength: Proactive Planning Guidance for Schools and Program Operators During the Coronavirus Outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

We know that there have been many questions on how to ensure that children have the nutrition they need during school closures related to COVID-19. The first step is making sure that child nutrition program operators have the flexibility to serve meals outside of the group or \u201ccongregate\u201d settings usually required. We applaud Secretary Perdue and the US Department of Agriculture for taking that first step by\u00a0announcing proactive flexibilities<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday. The \u201cpresumptive yes\u201d to requests for waivers from the congregate meal requirement, as indicated in Secretary Perdue\u2019s remarks to Congress, will be helpful in supporting states, schools, and community organizations as they make plans for responding to school closures triggered by COVID-19. This will help program operators to meet the needs of students while minimizing community spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

We encourage all state agencies to\u00a0submit a waiver request<\/a>\u00a0to the USDA in order to receive approval for non-congregate meal service through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) and to work with school food authorities and sponsors on implementation of the waiver. This will help ensure that timely, effective and efficient measures are taken to support affected communities. \u00a0We also encourage state agencies to consider and\u00a0submit requests for waivers<\/a>\u00a0from other requirements, as appropriate, such as meal pattern and program or area eligibility requirements.<\/p>\n

School food authorities and SFSP sponsoring organizations should begin working on proactive plans in light of this flexibility. For example:<\/p>\n