On September 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released policy memo SP 16-2022: Third Allocation of Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) Funds to Alleviate Supply Chain Disruptions in the School Meal Programs.
Approximately $51 million in federal funding will be made available to all eligible school food authorities (SFA) in California who are experiencing supply chain challenges and financial difficulties related to such. The SCA funds will be disbursed using a pre-determined formula with two components: a base amount of $5,000 and a proportional amount based on each SFA’s student enrollment. The SCA funds must be used exclusively to purchase unprocessed or minimally processed domestic food products and may not be used to cover the cost of past expenditures.
The California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division (NSD) will distribute the third round of the SCA funds at the same time as the second round. The SCA funds will go to all SFAs who submitted the SCA funds attestation accepting the funds. The NSD anticipates that the second and third allocations of SCA funds will be distributed to eligible SFAs by November 2022.
More information about policy memo SP 16-2022 and the SCA funds can be found on the USDA Documents and Resources web page
. In addition, the March 2022 SCA funds presentation is available on the FAQ tab of the SCA funds web page. The presentation includes information about the funds and allowable expenses which still applies for the new round of funding.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this subject, please email NSD staff at [email protected].
Questions:
Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609
Last Reviewed: Monday, October 3, 2022
