The following is an advance notification from USDA for an additional round of Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) Funds.  This memo will be replaced with the formal announcement when it is released by USDA.

School nutrition programs have faced significant challenges in recent years, with supply chains for food and labor stressed and at times disrupted.  Throughout SY 2022-2023, the Keep Kids Fed Act (KKFA) provided schools additional financial support by temporarily increasing meal reimbursement rates for school meals, but these increases will expire on June 30, 2023.  In addition, FNS provided close to $2.5 billion in relief funds through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), authorized under the CCC Charter Act [15 U.S.C. 714].  These resources, referred to as Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) funds, were distributed to School Food Authorities (SFAs) and local level program operators by State agencies and FNS has received feedback that these funds helped SFAs meet financial challenges with elevated food and labor costs.

FNS wants to support our school nutrition professionals as they continue to navigate through these challenges.  FNS is providing an additional $1.2 billion in SCA funds under the same authority (CCC Charter Act [15 U.S.C. 714) to assist school programs in their efforts to provide consistent and nutritious school meals to children. The SCA funds are a critical funding stream that will provide an additional financial resource for school districts to purchase domestic food products as part of school districts’ efforts to respond to these remaining supply chain challenges, enhance efforts to strengthen local food supply chains, and help schools to overcome financial and operational barriers while maintaining children’s access to nutritious meals.

State agencies will distribute this fourth round of SCA funding to eligible SFAs via the same formula used to distribute the first three rounds of funds. SCA funds remain limited to the purchase of unprocessed or minimally processed domestic food products (also referred to as commodities).

As a reminder: the requirement to maintain no more than a three month operating balance in the nonprofit foodservice account does not impact a schools eligibility for and/or receipt of SCA funds.

FNS expects that these funds, in addition to any unspent funds from the December 2021, July 2022, and September 2022 allocations, will support SFA operations in school year (SY) 2023-2024.  State allocations are listed below.

[1] In Arkansas, a separate state agency (AR DHHS) administers NSLP/SBP in private schools. This agency will receive the following sum, deducted from the total listed for Arkansas in the table: $277,284.

[2] In Oklahoma, a separate state agency administers NSLP/SBP in private schools. This agency (OK DHS) will receive the following sum, deducted from the total listed for Oklahoma in the table: $326,186.