In 2012, the USDA released a memo outlining specific accommodations offered to school food authorities (SFAs) that removed some barriers to participation in the AMP.

 

The streamlined AMP requirements for school districts makes the requirements more aligned with those of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), including:

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• Brief application and training process

• Reduced staff training requirements

• Removal of many administrative requirements including separate budget, management plan, accounting and allocation of costs, food storage, and pre-approval site visits

• Ability to follow NSLP procurement standards, meal pattern, offer vs. serve, and requirements for contracting with food service management companies

• Ability to align monitoring of sites with NSLP monitoring

• Ability to use any excess AMP reimbursement for any USDA child nutrition programs offered in district schools

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OTHER CONSIDERATIONS FOR SCHOOL FOOD AUTHORITIES:

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Florida's Afterschool Meals Program requires that all sites meet local health and safety standards. This includes a requirement for a food service inspection and child care licensure or exemption from licensure.

 

Child Care License: F.A.C. Chapter 65C22.008(c)(1) exempts the majority of afterschool programs located in schools from child care licensure, so—if your site does not already have a child care license—you only need to check "Not required to be licensed per the state or local licensing agency" in your application on the Site Information Form.

Food Service Inspections: If school district food service staff will be serving the meals, your NSLP food service inspection will meet this requirement.

 

Area Eligibility: For the majority of SFAs, the AMP site eligibility is determined simply by the geographic school zone in which the sites are located. However, in cases where practices like "busing" and "school choice" may result in school data that does not accurately reflect the economic conditions in the surrounding area, USDA has laid out a process for determining site area eligibility in this policy memo.

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