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Sponsoring organizations and institutions are required by regulation to keep Bulletins, Instructions, and USDA Policy Memorandums for reference and to apply immediately the appropriate instruction to agency programs. Call Child Nutrition Programs if you need further clarification.
To view the USDA SFSP policy memos, visit: DEED Child Nutrition Programs website or the USDA Policy Memorandum webpage by clicking on the links provided.
Collection of Race and Ethnicity Data by Visual Observation and Identification
Guidance
FNS Instruction 113-1 requires recipients of federal financial assistance to ask all program applicants and participants to identify all racial and ethnic categories that apply. Program operators must ensure applicants and participants are made aware that failure to provide racial or ethnic identity information will not impact their eligibility.
FNS Instruction 113-1, Appendix B section F titled Data Collection 2(b) and 3(b) also states, in reference to CACFP and SFSP respectively, “Visual identification may be used by institutions/sponsors to determine a beneficiary’s racial or ethnic category…” Upon further review, USDA determined the only program with a regulatory requirement implementing the 1997 OMB Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, 60 Fed. Reg. 210, 58785 (Oct. 30, 1997) to collect race and ethnicity data via visual observation and identification is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
USDA has reviewed this policy and concluded that the use of visual observation and identification by CACFP institutions and facilities and SFSP sponsors is not an appropriate method for collecting race or ethnicity data in the CACFP and SFSP programs. The agency received reports that program participants do not want to have their race or ethnicity determined for them. Moreover, a third party’s observation of an individual’s appearance is not a reliable means to capture how a participant self-identifies their own racial or ethnic identity. Therefore, USDA has determined that visual observation and identification by CACFP institutions and facilities and SFSP sponsors is no longer an allowable practice for CACFP and SFSP program operators to use during the collection of race or ethnicity data.
USDA acknowledges the challenges this change may cause in the collection of demographic data. The preferred method remains self-identification and self-reporting. CACFP institutions and facilities and SFSP sponsors should continue explaining the importance of this data to participants as they encourage them to self-identify and self-report. However, there are alternative means by which CACFP institutions and facilities and SFSP sponsors can obtain race or ethnicity data in the CACFP and SFSP programs, such as utilizing data from other sources in which the respondent has self-identified race or ethnicity such as school databases.
The CRD will update FNS Instruction 113-1 to remove references to the collection of racial and ethnic identity by visual identification in the CACFP and SFSP. To reflect this change in data collections, CNP will update CACFP and SFSP policy guidance.
Waivers:
Currently approved Alaska-specific Rescission Waivers:
- OVS (rescission waiver)
- Meal Service Times (rescission waiver)
- Area Eligibility for Closed Enrolled sites (rescission waiver)
- First Week Site Review (rescission waiver)
Currently approved COVID-19 Waivers:
- Off- Site Monitoring (Approved)
- Non-Congregate Meal Services (Approved within Consolidated Waiver)
- Parent / Guardian Meal Pickup (Approved within Consolidated Waiver)
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