USDA-FNS-CN-ART-I-FY 2012

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-265) amended Section 22 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA), to establish a requirement that State agencies (SAs) conduct additional administrative reviews (AARs) of selected local educational agencies. It also amended Section 7 of the Child Nutrition Act to provide funding for States to be used for administrative reviews and training of local educational agencies. Both of these requirements are focused on school food authorities (SFAs) which have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error. To assist SAs in achieving these requirements, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will fund FY 2012 Administrative Review and Training (ART) Method I Grants. The ART Method I grant funds will be available only to the 57 SAs that administer the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) for the purpose of conducting AARs of SFAs that have demonstrated a high level of, or a high risk for, administrative error. ART Method I grant funding will be awarded to assist SAs in conducting AARs as required under Section 22 of the NSLA. An AAR in the NSLP includes, but is not limited to, a review of applications, certification, verification, and/or meal counting, and meal claiming procedures. These areas are covered by the Coordinated Review Effort (CRE) Performance Standard (PS1) and the verification component of the general areas of review. The CRE procedures for these areas, as specified in 7 CFR 210.18, must be used to conduct the additional review(s) unless alternate procedures are approved by FNS. If an AAR results in significant findings, the SA must conduct a follow-up review to confirm that all required corrective actions have been implemented. The requirement for AARs of such SFAs for school year 2011-2012 is described in FNS Memorandum SP 48-2011 (Additional Administrative Reviews (AAR) and State Retention of Improperly-Paid Funds in School Year (SY) 2011-2012, September 6, 2011), which can be found on the Agency’s PartnerWeb at https://www.partnerweb.usda.gov and FNS website at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/policy.htm.