Appendix G.12 SFA Invitation Email

Appendix G.12
SFA Invitation email

OMB Control Number: 0584-0607

Expiration Date: XX/XX/20XX

SMO II

FROM: [STUDY EMAIL]

TO: [SFA DIRECTOR EMAIL]

EMAIL SUBJECT: USDA/FNS School Meals Operations Study, SFA survey

Dear [SFA DIRECTOR]:

We recently sent you an email describing the School Meals Operation (SMO) Study, which Mathematica is conducting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

SMO will collect information about program operations during school years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, as well as the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on school food authorities (SFAs). You have been selected to participate as part of a nationally representative sample, which means that your response will speak for many SFAs and is necessary to ensure the views of SFAs like yours are included. Your response will inform policy decisions as well as future training and technical assistance efforts. Participation in this important study is required for all selected SFAs.

Please click on the following link to complete your web survey. The survey will save your responses as they are entered, so if you cannot complete the survey at one time, you will not lose responses already recorded. Surveys must be completed by [DATE] or 10 weeks following the start of data collection.

Survey website:
[LINK TO SFA SURVEY]

Cooperation by States and districts is required under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Section 28 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, so we thank you in advance for your participation in this important study. For more information on this study, please see the enclosed brochure. If you have questions about the study, please call Mathematica at 1-833-440-9475 or email SMOStudy@mathematica-mpr.com.

Sincerely,

Rachel Frisk

Project Director

Mathematica

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is collecting this information to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected school food authority (SFA) operations and finances and to satisfy State agencies’ congressionally mandated reporting requirements for the COVID-19 nationwide waivers pursuant to section 2202 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (P.L. 116-127). This is a mandatory collection for State agencies and SFAs. FNS will use the information to assess how the waivers improved services to children and to inform FNS’s planning, policy, and guidance related to state and local meal service operations. Because the personally identifiable information (PII) requested under this collection will not be used to retrieve survey records or data, requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 do not apply. Responses will be kept private to the extent provided by law and FNS regulations. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0607. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 3 minutes (.0501 hours) per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5^th floor, Alexandria, VA 22314, ATTN: PRA (0584-0607). Do not return the completed form to this address.

Attachments: Brochure