To improve accuracy of eligibility determinations through increased automation and enhanced integrity features, we continue to promote statewide online NSLP/SBP application systems with integrity features such as those contained in the USDA online prototype application. FNS is also continuing to promote its data validation service (DVS), an in-house tool that was developed to improve school meals verification data integrity. The DVS has been adopted by five states and a national-level vendor is adding the DVS to its verification reporting system.

FNS supports NSLP/SBP program operators and the overall improvement of information technology systems through approximately $25 million in Technology Innovation Grants (TIGs) awarded to U.S. States and Territories annually. These grants support efforts to train, monitor, and provide technical assistance to program operators. Further, the TIGs provide non-competitive funding to State agencies administering the Child Nutrition Programs to make information technology improvements to data, accountability, and financial systems for the purposes of enhancing program efficiency and integrity.

National School Lunch Program has established a baseline.

The program's current year improper payment and unknown payment rate of 8.02 % has been achieved with a balance of payment integrity risk and controls and represents the lowest rate that can be achieved without disproportionally increasing another risk, therefore it is the tolerable rate.

NSLP and SBP do not have an administrative infrastructure for producing yearly estimates of improper payment rates and dollar values. Therefore, FNS uses its periodic Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) studies to provide baseline error rate estimates for NSLP and SBP. In non-study years, FNS typically provides annual estimates using the baseline data from APEC, program administrative data, and macroeconomic indicators. Due to the Covid-19 public health emergency, not all the macroeconomic data that are required for aging the data are available, so FNS will use the point estimates from APEC.

Finally, the FNS FY 2021 Budget requested an increase in funding for the following program integrity line items to establish and maintain effective internal controls to reduce improper payments:

Child Nutrition (CN) Training and Technical Assistance— ($34,214,000 enacted in FY 2021). Effective and continual training and technical assistance is necessary to help States properly administer the Child Nutrition Programs and to ensure that States are equipped to identify and prevent fraud and abuse. This change is due to state/local index trends and a pay cost increase.

CN Payment Accuracy— ($11,427,000 enacted in FY 2021). This funding supports FNS’s robust Federal oversight, monitoring and technical assistance, which are essential to the identification, prevention and resolution of erroneous payments. This change consists of $224,000 and is due to a result of state/-local index trends and a pay cost increase.

CN Studies—($15,299,000 enacted in FY 2021). FNS conducts a variety of studies, evaluations, and related activities that respond to the needs of policy makers and managers and help ensure that nutrition assistance programs achieve their goals effectively. This line supports the critical evaluations needed for the Child Nutrition Programs, including the Federal staff needed to oversee this vital work. This change reflects $300,000 and is due to state/local index trends, and a pay cost increase.

FNS expects that the overall improvement of information technology systems by non-competitive Technology Innovation Grant recipients administering National School Lunch Program (NSLP)/School Breakfast Program (SBP) will improve the State Agency's ability to train, monitor, provide technical assistance, and corrective actions.
The goal of the Administrative Review & Technology grant based statewide online NSLP/SBP application systems is to improve accuracy of eligibility determinations to certify children for free, reduced price, and paid NSLP/SBP meals through increased automation and enhanced integrity features of electronic NSLP/SBP meal benefit application.

Direct certification is the process by which eligible children are certified for free meals without the need for a household application based on household participation in one or more means-tested Federal assistance programs. Direct certification is intended to reduce both household and administrative certification error in Local Education Agency processing of household applications.

As a part of the overall strategy to improve processes and technology for State agencies, FNS will distribute the funding available to improve State systems and support payment accuracy. These efforts will take place either through appropriations or the grant dollars available. Efforts may include technological advancements, direct certification improvements, and improved opportunities to support streamlined and efficient processes at the local level.

National School Lunch Program has established a baseline.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) operations beginning in March 2020 that affect improper payments due to certification error, which is the primary component of NSLP/SBP improper payments. More specifically, beginning March 2020, School Food Authority's (SFAs) had the option to adopt waivers that allowed them to serve free meals to all participants through the NSLP’s Seamless Summer Option (SSO) or the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) without the need for applications. FNS recognized that State Agency's (SAs) and SFAs needed additional support and flexibility to continue serving meals to children while maintaining appropriate safety measures and managing the impacts of Covid-19. In School Year (SY) 2021-2022, SFAs had the option of operating SSO or NSLP/SBP and almost all SFAs (90%) chose the SSO waiver, covering approximately 98% of total meals served in FY 2021-2022. Under SSO, all participants receive free meals and SFAs do not need to conduct eligibility determinations, so certification error does not apply for SFAs that used the waiver in SY 2021-2022. As a result, it is not included in the error rate for FY22. Aggregation error, on the other hand, still applies as SFAs are still serving and counting meals.

Due to the operational flexibilities mentioned above, data that would allow USDA to age the improper payment estimates is not available for FY22. Therefore, USDA used the aggregation error point estimate from APEC III as its measure of improper payments in NSLP and SBP. The point estimate reflects the most current assessment of error in the traditional NSLP/SBP programs, unaffected by temporary changes to the program due to Covid-19, and therefore is the most reflective rate of school meal operations in FY22.

The program's current year improper payment and unknown payment rate of 1.5 % may or may not be the tolerable rate. The agency has not yet determined the tolerable rate for this program.

USDA is committed to ensuring integrity in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in order to protect taxpayer dollars and safeguard the meals that millions of children rely on during the school year. Therefore, USDA is reporting that it has not yet determined a tolerable rate for NSLP that fully balances payment integrity risk and controls while executing the program's processes to maximum possible effect as allowed under statute. In the coming year, USDA intends on defining a tolerable rate for each program with improper payment measures.

National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) do not have an administrative infrastructure for producing yearly estimates of improper payment rates and dollar values. Therefore, USDA uses its periodic Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) studies to provide baseline error rate estimates for NSLP and SBP. In non-study years, FNS typically provides annual estimates using the baseline data from APEC, program administrative data, and macroeconomic indicators.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed NSLP and SBP operations beginning in March 2020 that affect improper payments due to certification error, which is the primary component of NSLP/SBP improper payments. More specifically, beginning March 2020, School Food Authorities (SFAs) had the option to adopt waivers that allowed them to serve free meals to all participants through the NSLP’s Seamless Summer Option (SSO) or the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) without the need for applications. FNS recognized that State Agency's (SAs) and SFAs needed additional support and flexibility to continue serving meals to children while maintaining appropriate safety measures and managing the impacts of Covid-19. In School Year (SY) 2021-2022, SFAs had the option of operating SSO or NSLP/SBP and almost all SFAs (90%) chose the SSO waiver, covering approximately 98% of total meals served in FY 2021-2022. Under SSO, all participants receive free meals and SFAs do not need to conduct eligibility determinations, so certification error does not apply for SFAs that used the waiver in SY 2021-2022. As a result, it is not included in the error rate for FY22. Aggregation error, on the other hand, still applies as SFAs are still serving and counting meals.

Due to the operational flexibilities mentioned above, data that would allow USDA to age the improper payment estimates is not available for FY22. Therefore, USDA used the aggregation error point estimate from APEC III as its measure of improper payments in NSLP and SBP. The point estimate reflects the most current assessment of error in the traditional NSLP/SBP programs, unaffected by temporary changes to the program due to Covid-19, and therefore is the most reflective rate of school meal operations in FY22.

FNS FY 2022 Budget requested an increase in funding for program integrity line items to establish and maintain effective internal controls to reduce improper payments.

The FNS FY 2022 Budget requested an increase in funding for the following program integrity line items to establish and maintain effective internal controls to reduce improper payments:

Child Nutrition (CN) Training and Technical Assistance—An increase of $7,284,000 for Training and Technical Assistance ($34,214,000 enacted in FY 2021).
Effective and continual training and technical assistance are necessary to help States properly administer the Child Nutrition Programs and to ensure States are equipped to identify and prevent fraud and abuse. A change of $284,000 reflects increases to state and local index trends. An additional $7 million increase is for three current law proposals.

CN Payment Accuracy—An increase of $229,000 for CN Payment Accuracy ($11,427,000 enacted in FY 2021). This funding supports FNS’ robust Federal oversight, monitoring and technical assistance, which are essential to the identification, prevention and resolution of erroneous payments. The change consists of $229,000 to match state and local index trends

CN Studies—An increase of $308,000 for CN Studies ($15,299,000 enacted in FY 2021). FNS conducts a variety of studies, evaluations, and related activities that respond to the needs of policy makers and managers and help ensure that nutrition assistance programs achieve their goals effectively. This line supports the critical evaluations needed for the Child Nutrition Programs, including the federal staff needed to oversee this vital work. The change consists of $308,000 to match state and local index trends.

CN Administrative Reviews—$10 million was provided for training and technical assistance for State agencies responsible for reviewing local school food authorities participating in the school meal programs. Local administrative reviews help ensure that school children are offered meals that meet regulatory standards and that the financial claims associated with those meals are appropriate.

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) expects that the overall improvement of information technology systems by non-competitive Technology Innovation Grant recipients administering National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will improve the State Agency's ability to train, monitor, provide technical assistance, and corrective actions. The goal of the Administrative Review and Technology grant based statewide online NSLP application systems is to improve accuracy of eligibility determinations to certify children for free or reduced price NSLP meals through increased automation and enhanced integrity features of electronic NSLP meal benefit application.
As a part of the overall strategy to improve processes and technology for State agencies, FNS will distribute the funding available to improve State systems and support payment accuracy. These efforts will take place either through appropriations or the grant funds available. Efforts may include technological advancements, direct certification improvements, and improved opportunities to support streamlined and efficient processes at the local level.

National School Lunch Program has established a baseline.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed National School Lunch Program (NSLP) operations beginning in March 2020 that affect improper payments due to certification error, which is the primary component of NSLP improper payments. More specifically, beginning March 2020, School Food Authorities (SFAs) had the option to adopt waivers that allowed them to serve free meals to all participants through the NSLP’s Seamless Summer Option (SSO) or the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) without the need for applications. Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recognized that State Agency's (SAs) and SFAs needed additional support and flexibility to continue serving meals to children while maintaining appropriate safety measures and managing the impacts of Covid-19. In School Year (SY) 2021-2022, SFAs had the option of operating SSO or NSLP/School Breakfast Program (SBP) and almost all SFAs (90%) chose the SSO waiver, covering approximately 98% of total meals served in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2022. Under SSO, all participants receive free meals and SFAs do not need to conduct eligibility determinations, so certification error does not apply for SFAs that used the waiver in SY 2021-2022. As a result, it is not included in the error rate for FY22. Aggregation error, on the other hand, still applies as SFAs are still serving and counting meals. Due to the operational flexibilities mentioned above, data that would allow FNS to age the improper payment estimates is not available for FY22. Therefore, FNS used the aggregation error point estimate from the Access, Participation, Eligibility and Certification (APEC) III study as its measure of improper payments in NSLP. The point estimate reflects the most current assessment of error in the traditional NSLP, unaffected by temporary changes to the program due to Covid-19, and therefore is the most reflective rate of school meal operations in FY22.

The program's current year improper payment and unknown payment rate of 2.38 % may or may not be the tolerable rate. The agency has not yet determined the tolerable rate for this program.

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is committed to ensuring integrity in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in order to protect taxpayer dollars and safeguard the meals that millions of children rely on during the school year. Therefore, FNS is reporting that it has not yet determined a tolerable rate for NSLP that fully balances payment integrity risk and controls while executing the program's processes to the maximum possible effect as allowed under statute.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) does not have an administrative infrastructure for producing yearly estimates of improper payment rates and dollar values. Therefore, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) uses periodic Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) studies to provide baseline error rate estimates for NSLP. In non-study years, FNS typically provides annual estimates using the baseline data from APEC, program administrative data, and macroeconomic indicators.

In order to establish and maintain internal controls in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has requested the following budget increases to the Child Nutrition Block, of which NSLP is included (Source: 2023 USDA Explanatory Notes - Food and Nutrition Service):

(14) An increase of $11,782,000 for Training and Technical Assistance ($34,214,000 estimated in FY 2022). Effective and continual training and technical assistance are necessary to help States properly administer the Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs) and to ensure States are equipped to identify and prevent fraud and abuse. A change of $808,000 is due to pay cost and a change of $974,000 reflects increases to state and local index trends.
An additional $10 million increase is for three current law proposals:
• The first current law proposal increases funding by $3 million for Child Nutrition Customer Service and Integration. While FNS provides tools, training, and resources to help state and local operators deliver specific programs, both within and beyond FNS. Because this is a cross-program proposal, the costs of this initiative are being shared with the SNAP, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Nutrition Program Administration (NPA) accounts. The full proposal can be referenced for more detail under the NPA section of this document.
• The second proposal is for $6 million for FNS to restore the ability to provide timely program technical support. This proposal addresses ability to better respond to state and local policy and operational issues and questions. Please refer to the “Restore FNS’ Ability to Provide Timely Program Technical Support” current law proposal for more details.
• The third proposal is for $1 million and is for more dedicated grants management and contract resources. Currently FNS manages 700 active CNP grants and expects to award another $100 million in new grants to States, tribes, schools and districts, non-profit organizations, and agricultural producers in
FY 2023. The proposal, entitled, “Provide Dedicated Staff for Development, Management and Oversight of Program Specific Grant Programs and Procurements” addresses this need and can be referenced further within this document.

(15) An increase of $5,706,000 for Child Nutrition (CN) Studies ($15,299,000 estimated in FY 2022). FNS conducts a variety of studies, evaluations, and related activities that respond to the needs of policy makers and managers and help ensure that nutrition assistance programs achieve their goals effectively. This line supports the critical evaluations needed for the CNP, including the federal staff needed to oversee this vital work. The change consists of $87,000 for pay costs, $619,000 to match state and local index trends, and $5 million for a current law proposal titled, “Feasibility study for a national system for State reviews of CNPs,” to complete a feasibility study for a national system for State reviews of CNPs.

(16) An increase of $888,000 for CN Payment Accuracy ($11,427,000 estimated in FY 2022). This funding supports FNS’ robust Federal oversight, monitoring and technical assistance, which are essential to the identification, prevention and resolution of erroneous payments. The increase consists of $462,000 to match state and local index trends and $426,000 due to pay cost.

Process Change - Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Expansion
The Food and Nutrition service (FNS) expects that increased CEP eligibility will correspond with a rise in CEP participation, a reduction in certification error, and a reduction in improper payments. Because the rule was published after the CEP election date for School Year (SY) 2023-2024, we expect that the full magnitude of decreases in improper payments resulting from change will not fully be observed until SY2024-2025.

Progress on Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) IV
With this update to the APEC study series, FNS will be able to use a new baseline estimate for improper payments in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP), improving our projected error rates by starting with a more recent, more accurate starting point. The study also includes a component that examines integrity features of online applications. From this sub-study, FNS aims to gain clarity on quality of data collected in online applications used by students and families who apply for free and reduced-price meals.

Child Nutrition (CN) Integrity Rule
FNS expects the rule’s provisions to strengthen the administration of CN programs, at all levels, through enhanced oversight and enforcement tools designed to help FNS and state administering agencies to reduce program error of all types, resulting in more efficient operations and improved compliance with program requirements. Of particular importance to the NSLP and SBP, the rule allows states to adopt a 5-year administrative review cycle for School Food Authorities (SFAs); previously States reviewed SFAs a minimum of once every three years. States that adopt a review cycle longer than three years must establish and apply risk-based criteria to select SFAs for targeted follow-up reviews. This change allows States to direct limited resources where attention is needed most.

The rule also formalizes a framework for developing, testing, and introducing integrity-focused process improvements to address improper payment challenges that cannot be remedied through monitoring alone.

Direct Certification with Medicaid (DC-M)
Direct certification is the process by which eligible children are certified for free meals without the need for a household application based on household participation in one or more means-tested Federal assistance programs. Direct certification is intended to reduce both household and administrative certification error in Local Education Agency (LEA) processing of household applications.


Automation - Non-competitive Technology Innovation Grants (nTIGs)
FNS expects that the overall improvement of information technology systems by nTIG recipients administering NSLP will improve the State's ability to train, monitor, provide technical assistance, and corrective actions.

Encourage state agency adoption of FNS-developed data validation service
FNS modified its process of reviewing state agency management of the NSLP to encourage adoption of an FNS-developed tool to reduce error in the reporting of NSLP administrative data. The tool, the Data Validation Service (DVS) is an Application Programming Interface (API) that States can include in their platforms for collecting data from their school districts. The DVS provides real-time edit checks and error messages to school districts as they submit data to their States.

Internal Process:
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Expansion targets certification error. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) research shows that schools participating in CEP have notably lower certification error than schools that do not participate.

The Fourth Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study (APEC IV) will update the improper payment baseline for both the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) upon completion. From this integrity study series, FNS is able to better monitor impacts of prior corrective actions as well as identify areas of opportunity for additional corrective actions or other integrity-focused program improvements.

The Child Nutrition (CN) Integrity Rule’s change allows states to adopt a 5-year administrative review cycle for School Food Authorities (SFAs). States may elect for the longer cycle by first establishing a risk-based criteria to select SFAs for targeted follow-up reviews. This change allows states to direct limited resource where attention is needed most. Further, the rule’s provisions strengthen the administration of CN programs at all levels, through enhanced oversight and enforcement tools designed to help FNS and State agencies to reduce program error of all types, resulting in a more efficient operation and improved compliance with program requirements.

FNS research confirms that participation in Direct Certification with Medicaid (DC-M) improves program integrity by replacing the traditional household application or school meal benefits with an automated data match against existing household income records. Direct certification is the process by which eligible children are certified for free meals without the need for a household application based on household participation in one or more means-tested Federal assistance programs. Direct certification is intended to reduce both household and administrative certification error in Local Education Agency (LEA) processing of household applications.

Automation:
States administering NSLP and SBP that are recipients of the non-competitive Technology Innovation Grants strengthen their overall information technology systems. These actions improve those State agencies’ ability to provide effective training, monitoring, provide technical assistance, and develop effective corrective actions.

FNS modified its process of reviewing state agency management of NSLP to encourage adoption of the FNS-developed Data Validation Service (DVS) that improves the quality of NSLP certification, eligibility, and verification data. The DVS is an Application Programming Interface (API) that States can include in their existing reporting platforms to improve data quality in real time while School Food Authorities (SFAs) are reporting their Verification Collection Report results.

Internal Process:
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Expansion targets certification error. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) research shows that schools participating in CEP have notably lower certification error than schools that do not participate.

The Fourth Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study (APEC IV) will update the improper payment (IP) baseline for both the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) upon completion. From this integrity study series, FNS is able to better monitor impacts of prior corrective actions as well as identify areas of opportunity for additional corrective actions or other integrity-focused program improvements.

The Child Nutrition (CN) Integrity Rule’s change allows states to adopt a 5-year administrative review cycle for School Food Authorities (SFAs). States may elect for the longer cycle by first establishing a risk-based criteria to select SFAs for targeted follow-up reviews. This change allows states to direct limited resource where attention is needed most. Further, the rule’s provisions strengthen the administration of child nutrition programs, at all levels, through enhanced oversight and enforcement tools designed to help FNS and State agencies to reduce program error of all types, resulting in a more efficient operation and improved compliance with program requirements.

FNS research confirms that participation in Direct Certification with Medicaid (DC-M) improves program integrity by replacing the traditional household application or school meal benefits with an automated data match against existing household income records. Direct certification is the process by which eligible children are certified for free meals without the need for a household application based on household participation in one or more means-tested Federal assistance programs. Direct certification is intended to reduce both household and administrative certification error in Local Education Agency (LEA) processing of household applications.

Automation:
States administering the NSLP and SBP that are recipients of the non-competitive Technology Innovation Grants strengthen their overall information technology (IT) systems. These actions improve those State agencies’ ability to provide effective training, monitoring, provide technical assistance, and develop effective corrective actions.

FNS modified its process of reviewing State agency management of the NSLP to encourage adoption of the FNS-developed Data Validation Service (DVS) that improves the quality of NSLP certification, eligibility, and verification data. The DVS is an Application Programming Interface (API) that states can include in their existing reporting platforms to improve data quality in real time while School Food Authorities (SFAs) are reporting their Verification Collection Report results.

Internal Process:
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Expansion targets certification error. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) research shows that schools participating in CEP have notably lower certification error than schools that do not participate.
The Fourth Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study (APEC IV) will update the improper payment (IP) baseline for both the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) upon completion. From this integrity study series, FNS is able to better monitor impacts of prior corrective actions as well as identify areas of opportunity for additional corrective actions or other integrity-focused program improvements.
The Child Nutrition (CN) Integrity Rule’s change allows states to adopt a 5-year administrative review cycle for School Food Authorities (SFAs). States may elect for the longer cycle by first establishing a risk-based criteria to select SFAs for targeted follow-up reviews. This change allows states to direct limited resource where attention is needed most. Further, the rule’s provisions strengthen the administration of child nutrition programs, at all levels, through enhanced oversight and enforcement tools designed to help FNS and State agencies to reduce program error of all types, resulting in a more efficient operation and improved compliance with program requirements.
FNS research confirms that participation in Direct Certification with Medicaid (DC-M) improves program integrity by replacing the traditional household application or school meal benefits with an automated data match against existing household income records. Direct certification is the process by which eligible children are certified for free meals without the need for a household application based on household participation in one or more means-tested Federal assistance programs. Direct certification is intended to reduce both household and administrative certification error in Local Education Agency (LEA) processing of household applications.
Automation:
States administering the NSLP and SBP that are recipients of the non-competitive Technology Innovation Grants strengthen their overall information technology (IT) systems. These actions improve those State agencies’ ability to provide effective training, monitoring, provide technical assistance, and develop effective corrective actions.
FNS modified its process of reviewing State agency management of the NSLP to encourage adoption of the FNS-developed Data Validation Service (DVS) that improves the quality of NSLP certification, eligibility, and verification data. The DVS is an Application Programming Interface (API) that states can include in their existing reporting platforms to improve data quality in real time while School Food Authorities (SFAs) are reporting their Verification Collection Report results.

National School Lunch Program has established a baseline.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) ages the certification and aggregation error point estimates from the most recent integrity study, the Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) study, which was conducted in School Year (SY) 2017-2018.  With the post-COVID return to regular operations in State agencies (SAs) and School Food Authorities (SFAs) administering and operating National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP), FNS has the necessary data to age the point estimates produced in the study to report more accurate improper payment estimates for SY2023-2024.  Until the next year's data becomes available, FNS also uses the current year's estimate for the projected year.

The program's current year improper payment and unknown payment rate of 7.37 % may or may not be the tolerable rate. The agency has not yet determined the tolerable rate for this program.

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is committed to ensuring integrity in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in order to protect taxpayer dollars and safeguard the meals that millions of children rely on during the school year. Therefore, FNS is reporting that it has not yet determined a tolerable rate for NSLP that fully balances payment integrity risk and controls while executing the program's processes to the maximum possible effect as allowed under statute.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) does not have an administrative infrastructure for producing yearly estimates of improper payment rates and dollar values. Therefore, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) uses periodic Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification (APEC) studies to provide baseline error rate estimates for NSLP. In non-study years, FNS typically provides annual estimates using the baseline data from APEC, program administrative data, and macroeconomic indicators.

An increase of $19,489,000 and 42 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) in Training and Technical Assistance ($45,996,000 and 59 FTE available in 2024).
Effective and continual training and technical assistance are necessary to help States properly administer the Child Nutrition (CN) Programs and to ensure States are equipped to identify and prevent fraud and abuse. This includes a total of $17.1 million for current law proposals, $3.8 million of which is for a 2025 proposal and $13.3 million is for 2024 re-proposals. The requested increase includes $3.8 million and 19 staff to support the 2025 Current Law Proposal: Increase Funding for Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Implementation, $1.3 million and 7 staff to support the 2024 Current Law Re-proposal: Federal Administration of Summer EBT. Both current law proposals support Federal implementation and oversight of the new Summer EBT program. The balance of the 2024 Current Law Re-proposal: Federal Administration of Summer EBT is split between the CN Payment Accuracy and Training and Technical Assistance budget lines. The next current law proposal is for $10 million and 16 staff to support the 2024 Current Law Re-proposal: Increase Training and Technical Assistance, which enhances the Food and Nutrition Service’s ability to provide critical training, technical assistance, and oversight to ensure program integrity and compliance with Federal law and regulations for child nutrition in both national and regional offices. The fourth current law proposal for $2 million is to support the 2024 Current Law Re-proposal: Enterprise Risk Management: helps with approaches in FNS strategic planning and program operations. The remaining increase is due to inflation and 2025 pay cost.

An increase of $2,743,000 in CN Studies ($21,005,000 and 13 FTE available in 2024).
FNS conducts a variety of studies, evaluations, and related activities that respond to the needs of policy makers and managers and help ensure that nutrition assistance programs achieve their goals effectively, which include improving public health, nutrition, and equity. This program line supports the critical evaluations needed for the CN Programs, including the Federal staff needed to oversee this vital work. The request includes $2 million for the 2025 Current Law Proposal: Research on the U.S. Territories. The remaining increase is due to inflation and 2025 pay cost.

An increase of $9,248,000 and 28 FTE in CN Payment Accuracy ($12,315,000 and 72 FTE available in 2024).
This funding supports FNS’s robust Federal oversight, monitoring, and technical assistance, which are essential to the identification, prevention, and resolution of erroneous payments. This includes a total of $8.2 million for current law proposals: $4 million and 20 staff to support the 2025 Current Law Proposal: Investment in Regional Financial Management for Program Integrity, which helps regional Grants Management and Administrative Services (GMAS) Staff across CN Program accounts. The next current law proposal is for $3 million to support the 2024 Current Law Re-proposal: Strengthen the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Program Integrity, which will spread through a variety of activities including data mining and a technical assistance support center designed to support States in identifying and addressing program integrity risks. The third current law is for $1.2 million and 8 staff to support the 2024 Current Law Re-proposal: Federal Administration of Summer EBT. The balance of the 2024 Current Law Re-proposal: Federal Administration of Summer EBT is split between the CN Payment Accuracy and Training and Technical Assistance budget lines. The remaining increase is due to inflation and 2025 pay cost.