Partner Sign-On Letter to USDA on Extending Child Nutrition Waivers

Overview

Summer meal sponsors are already planning for operations this summer and program participation deadlines are quickly approaching. In absence of certainty from USDA about whether various program requirements will continue to be waived, sponsors, especially those facing the risk of continued social distancing measures, may be forced to refrain from program participation this summer. As a result, vulnerable children will have decreased access to critical nutrition at a time of unprecedented need.

Therefore, we urged USDA to proactively and fully exercise the authority granted by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to extend all of the COVID-19 Child Nutrition Response waivers through September 30, 2020, allowing Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option (SSO) operators as well as care providers participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to continue serving meals in the summer months.

More than three hundred organizations joined us in asking the US Department of Agriculture to proactively extend all nationwide COVID-19 Child Nutrition Response waivers through September 30, 2020 in order to support schools and non-profit organizations making their plans now for summer operations.