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Congressional Research Sei
Informing the legislitive debate sinee 1914
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Updated August 15, 2023
Summer Food for Children: An Overview of Federal Aid
Introduction
Since the late 1960s, the federal government has provided
assistance for summer meals served to children through the
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides
funding for meals served by nonprofit organizations, school
districts, and public agencies to children during the
summer. The Seamless Summer Option (SSO), which was
authorized in 2004, allows school districts to operate a
modified version of the school meals programs (the
National School Lunch Program [NSLP] and School
Breakfast Program [SBP]) into the summer.
Traditionally, summer meals have been consumed on-site
with other participants (referred to as congregate feeding).
In December 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2023 (P.L. 117-328) enabled off-site consumption of
summer meals for children living in rural areas. It also
authorized a permanent, nationwide Summer Electronic
Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT) Program for Children to
provide eligible households with benefits over the summer
that can be redeemed for groceries. Summer EBT has
operated as a demonstration project since 2011.
The summer meal and Summer EBT programs are
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
Summer Meal Programs
The summer meal programs (SFSP and SSO) are authorized
under Section 13 of the Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act. They provide federal reimbursement for meals
served by participating institutions to children during
summer vacation periods in May through September
(except for schools with continuous calendars). They may
also operate during unanticipated school closures between
October and April. Federal funding is provided to state
agencies, which oversee and distribute reimbursements to
eligible institutions.
Eligible Institutions
In SFSP, eligible institutions (sponsors) are nonprofit
organizations, school food authorities, and government
agencies (including tribal governments) that provide a year-
round service to the community.
In SSO, school food authorities (typically food service
departments of school districts) that participate in NSLP
and SBP during the school year are the only type of eligible
sponsor. School food authorities have the option to
participate in SFSP or SSO (or neither). School food
authorities may find SSO easier to administer, but they
receive larger reimbursements under SFSP. A 2018 study
by USDA found that three-quarters of sponsors operated
SFSP and one-quarter operated SSO, many preferring
SFSP's nutrition standards and higher reimbursement rates.
In both programs, sponsors operate meal sites at various
locations, including schools, recreation centers, and parks.
As a result of P.L. 117-328, starting in summer 2023
sponsors are allowed to provide meals for off-site
consumption (i.e., pick-up or delivery) to children living in
rural areas without access to congregate meal sites. Other
sponsors must serve meals on-site unless they obtain a
waiver (e.g., for severe weather, such as excessive heat).
Eligible Sites
Sponsors may only operate SFSP/SSO when certain
eligibility criteria are met. These criteria for the most
common types of meal sites-open sites and closed
enrolled sites-are as follows:
* Open sites (open to any child in the community on a
first-come, first-serve basis) must be located in an area
in which at least 50% of children qualify for free or
reduced-price school meals (area eligibility). They serve
free meals to all children and receive reimbursement for
all meals served.
* Closed enrolled sites (open only to enrolled children)
must establish, using area eligibility data or individual
eligibility information for enrolled children, that at least
50% of such children qualify for free or reduced-price
school meals. They serve free meals to all enrolled
children and receive reimbursement for all meals served.
In contrast, any public or nonprofit camp (a residential or
day camp that provides organized programs for enrolled
children) may operate SFSP. However, camps are only
required to serve free meals to children who qualify for free
or reduced-price meals, and they receive reimbursement
only for such meals.
Table 1. Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
Participation and Expenditures in July, 2018-2022
Meal Sites Participation Expenditures
(thousands) (millions) ($ in millions)
July 2018 49.5 2.7 197.1
July 2019 47.5 2.7 204.9
July 2020 37.8 5.6 561.3
July 2021 48.9 5.1 484.4
July 2022 36.3 2.7 217.8
Source: CRS, using USDA FNS, Keydata for 2018-2022,
https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/child-nutrition-tables.
Notes: Seamless Summer Option (SSO) data are not available. SFSP
operations in summers 2020-2022 were affected by COVID-19
response policies.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govemnv0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)