Resource Library

Every day, school nutrition departments across the country provide healthy meals to children to fuel their minds and bodies. FRAC has a variety of resources to help school districts boost participation in school breakfast and lunch and implement strong afterschool and summer nutrition programs that maximize federal child nutrition funding.

The Afterschool Nutrition Programs fill the hunger gap that exists after school for millions of low-income children in rural communities. The programs, which include the Child and Adult Care Afterschool Meal Program and the National School Lunch Program Afterschool Snack Program, provide federal funding to afterschool programs operating in low-income areas to serve meals and snacks to children 18 and under after school, on weekends, and during school holidays.

An infographic stating early 1.1 million low-income children benefited from afterschool suppers in October 2016. From FRAC’s first-ever report on participation data in the Afterschool Nutrition Programs.

FRAC’s first-ever report on the Afterschool Nutrition Programs measures how many children had access to afterschool suppers and snacks in October 2016, nationally and in each state.

The report found that nearly 1.1 million low-income children benefited from afterschool suppers in October 2016, up from just 200,000 in October 2011.

The president’s fiscal year 2019 budget does not propose any direct changes to the federally funded Afterschool Meal and Snack Programs. These child nutrition programs, like the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs and the Summer Nutrition Programs, are federal entitlement programs and are not part of the president’s proposal for the discretionary budget. The proposed budget does, however, zero out funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), the largest federal funding source for operations of afterschool and summer programs.

The Education for Homeless Children and Youths (EHCY) program, authorized under Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act), was created to ensure homeless students have educational rights and protections. State Education Agencies (SEA) and Local Education Agencies (LEA) must review and revise their current policies and procedures to safeguard homeless students’ access to high-quality education as part of drafting their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued rules updating the nutrition standards for meals served through CACFP. This resource is meant to be a roadmap for sites to understand and plan for the new meal pattern and identify nutrition enrichment activities to empower families, support staff, and engage children.

Umbrella sponsors may be local government agencies, school districts, food banks, youth-serving organizations, and other private nonprofits. They fill a critical need by overseeing multiple, and often smaller, afterschool enrichment sites that need administrative support to participate in the Afterschool Meal Program.

Advocates can expand the Afterschool Meal Program and obtain federal reimbursement using proven outreach strategies, including promoting the program, building relationships with afterschool and out-of-school time provider networks, connecting sites to available community resources, and working closely with the state agency.

This guide outlines strategies and approaches for accessing local products such as working with an organization that is already using local produce, collaborating with the area school food service director or operating the Farm to School program independently.

This fact sheet outlines the benefits for libraries in offering meals and snacks through the federal meal programs and includes information on getting started.

Program Comparison Chart: Summer Nutrition Programs and the Afterschool Meal Program

An overview of FRAC publications designed to introduce sponsors to the programs, help sponsors get started, and share tips on serving meals.

This fact sheet outlines information on afterschool meal benefits and includes information on getting started in the program.

Moving from Afterschool Snack to a Meal: It’s easier than it looks!