| Nutrition Services Division |
|
| To: Summer
Food Service Program Sponsors |
Number: 98-716 |
| From: Summer Food Service Program Unit |
Date: August 1998 |
| Attention: Authorized Representatives | |
| Subject: Certifying Eligibility of NYSP Sites to Participate in the SFSP |
|
| Reference: SA-9-3-GEN, APB:SFS 98-18 | |
This Management Bulletin disseminates guidance received from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding an additional method for determining National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) site eligibility for participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). This additional method was based on USDA review of the NYSP guidelines established by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The primary grantee for the NYSP is the National Collegiate Athletic Association. This provision is in addition to the long-standing provision that NYSP sites (which are considered "closed enrolled sites") are eligible for the SFSP when 50 percent or more of the enrolled children are individually determined eligible for free or reduced price meals based on family income information.
DHHS guidelines require that a minimum of 90 percent of the children participating at each NYSP site be from households with incomes at or below the Federal income poverty level. This requirement exceeds the SFSP requirement that at least 50% of the children must qualify for free or reduced price meals. Therefore, if sponsors certify that their NYSP sites comply with the DHHS guidelines for income eligibility for the children attending the program, those sites automatically qualify for the SFSP.
NYSP eligibility in the SFSP may also be based on a determination that the children residing in areas in which poor economic conditions exist (school data or census tract data) are the primary program recipients of the NYSP.
When a NYSP is not the sponsoring organization, but is a site under another sponsor, site eligibility must be verified by the sponsor through a review of NYSP records.
The intent of this policy is to eliminate an apparent duplication of effort for determining income eligibility of the children attending NYSP sites.
