Q2. Why is the Ministry of Children and Youth Services expanding SNP onreserve?

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1 MINISTRY OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES First Nations Student Nutrition Program Q&As Note: This document contains answers to questions received by MCYS between May 2015 to July 2015 for the First Nations Student Nutrition Program expansion opportunity. Please direct questions or requests for additional information to Background Q1. What is the Student Nutrition Program (SNP)? A1. The Student Nutrition Program provides funding to help support nutritious meal programs that run in schools and other community locations. Programs operate in a non-stigmatizing manner and all school-age children and youth at a site are eligible to participate in the program. The SNP in Ontario is funded in Ontario by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, along with community partners and charitable organizations. As part of the Healthy Kids Strategy (2013) and Poverty Reduction Strategy (2014), the ministry is supporting the development of new First Nations led program models and expanding the program to First Nations educational settings. Q2. Why is the Ministry of Children and Youth Services expanding SNP onreserve? A2. There are many positive health and educational outcomes associated with eating a nutritious meal at school, such as improved attendance and concentration. SNPs help school age children and youth get the most out of their school day. We have identified that some First Nations communities are interested in the program. Q3. What do SNPs look like on the ground? A3. There are many different program models. Three common approaches include grab and go programs, where meals are placed in brown bags and are located in a central location for students to pick up. In other programs, children and youth sit together and eat a hot meal in the cafeteria or other designated program space. Another common approach is to provide bins of food to each classroom, so that children and youth can eat together at their desks. Communities are encouraged to select a program model that best suits their needs and reflects the available infrastructure. Q4. What types of meals are served? A4. Meal programs offer nutritious food with at least three of the four food groups. Meals must include one serving of fruit and/or vegetable, and one serving of dairy. 1

2 Q5. Will programs be required to operate full meals 5 days per week? A5. Yes. Programs must offer nutritious food to children and youth every day that classes are in-session (i.e. five days per week).your organization may need to leverage other funding in order to offer full meals, every day that the school is open to children and youth. Eligibility Q6. Who is eligible to apply for funding? A6. Political Territorial Organizations (PTOs), Tribal Councils and Band Councils in Ontario are eligible to apply for funding on behalf of the communities where the programs will be delivered. Communities must determine who will apply on their behalf. Q7. Who is eligible to receive funding for the program? A7. Political Territorial Organizations (PTOs), Tribal Councils, Band Councils and other incorporated not-for-profits community organizations are eligible to become a Transfer Payment Recipient (TPR)* and receive program funding. The applicant may be the same or different from the TPR. The identified TPR must have the support of the First Nation that they will be administering funding to, through a Band Council Resolution. Q8. What age range of children and youth does the program serve? A8. The program serves school-age children and youth from Junior Kindergarten through completion of secondary school. Q9. Are post-secondary age students eligible to access the program? A9. Post-secondary age students are not eligible to access the program. Q10. What program sites can operate the program? A10. Eligible program sites include: On-reserve elementary and secondary schools; Federally funded First Nations elementary and secondary schools offreserve; Alternative learning environments; Other on-reserve community locations for students attending school off reserve (e.g. serving children or youth on their way to school, before the bus). Childcare programs, family centres and after-school programs are not eligible for SNP funding. *The Transfer Payment Recipient will enter into a service agreement with the ministry, receive and administer funds to program sites and report data to the ministry. 2

3 Q11. Do children and youth have to be registered with the First Nation in order to be eligible to participate in the program (i.e. non-native children living on-reserve)? A11. Programs operate in a non-stigmatizing and all school age children and youth at a program site can participate. Children and youth are not required to be registered on the Nation s Band List. Q12. Are provincially funded schools off-reserve eligible to receive funding? A12. PTOs, Tribal Councils and Band Councils are not eligible to receive funding for provincially funded schools off-reserve. Provincially Funded schools are eligible to receive funding by applying to the local community agency off-reserve. Please see: aspx. Q13. Will the program accommodate students with special needs? A13. The program is accessible to all children and youth at each program site. Please identify all circumstances in your application where the program will be modified so that students with special needs can fully participate. Q14. Can SNPs run when school is closed (i.e. during summer holiday)? A14. No. SNPs operate during the school year, when the school is open. Q15. Are applicants eligible to apply on behalf of more than one program site? A15. Yes. The applicants can apply on behalf of multiple program sites. Each school or community location is considered one program site. Q16. If a First Nation has an elementary and a secondary school on reserve, is this considered one program site or two? A16. This would be considered two separate program sites. Application Q17. When are applications due? A17. Applications for the and school year are due to the ministry on August 4, Applications must be submitted for all programs that prefer to start in either school year. Q18. How do I submit an application? A18. To be considered for funding, the ministry must receive completed application templates no later than end of day August 4, Electronic copies must be sent to firstnationssnp@ontario.ca. Hard copies are required if signatures cannot be provided electronically. Hard copies must be sent to: 3

4 Ministry of Children and Youth Services 101 Bloor Street W, 3 rd Floor Toronto, ON M5S 2Z7 Attention: Tim Mt. Pleasant Budgets must be completed electronically. Questions about this application can be directed to firstnationssnp@ontario.ca. Q19. Is the application process competitive? A19. The ministry s objective is to provide funding to programs that have community support and are sustainable. As there is limited funding for this opportunity, communities may need to prioritize need when submitting applications. Q20. Is it beneficial to apply as an individual nation or as a collective? A20. Is it recommended that Nations apply jointly through PTOs, Tribal Councils or other models. Applicants with four or more program sites are eligible to utilize some funding for staffing at the TPR to administer, manage and oversee the programs. Q21. If First Nations are applying as a collective, does each First Nation have to submit an application to the ministry? A21. No. The group of applicants may designate one First Nation to send one application to the ministry on behalf of the group. All Nations within the group must include Band Council Resolutions indicating their support for the application. Q22. Does the ministry application require funding information from external sources? A22. No. The budget requires an outline of ministry funding only. Do not include external funding sources while completing the budget portion of the application. Funding Q23. How much funding is available for First Nations programs? A23. There is approximately $4M in available funding phased-in over two years. Q24. How much funding will program sites receive? A24. Page 5 of the Funding Application Guide outlines maximum eligible annualized funding amounts based on location and the anticipated number of children/youth served. Please contact firstnationssnp@ontario.ca to obtain a copy of the Guide. Each program site is also eligible for up to $10, 000 in one-time start-up costs for equipment purchase and installation, supplies, staff training and dietictian fees to support menu planning. 4

5 All funding amounts must be approved by the ministry, based on the application. Q25. If the applicant does not require the maximum amount of eligible funding, should it apply for the maximum amount? A25. To maximize funding across the province, the applicant should only apply for funding required to operate a sustainable program. Q26. Will applicants be required to submit quotes for program equipment with the application? A26. No. Quotes are not required for submission to the ministry. Please refer to the Transfer Payment Recipient s financial/procurement policy for the records management of quotes. Q27. Can I begin making purchases for the program before the ministry has approved funding? Will ministry funding be retroactive? A27. The ministry will not be reimbursing funds that were spent prior to the application approval and allocation of funds. Q28. How do I determine the number of children and youth the program site anticipates to serve? A28. Best practice for determining the anticipated number of children and youth for each school-based program site is to utilize average school enrollment for the previous two to three years. Q29. What are eligible program expenses? A29. Annualized funding from the Ministry of Children and Youth Services can be used to support: Program food costs; Shipping/transportation of program food (e.g. freight, mileage for food pick up); Funding for program staff (at the site level and/or Transfer Payment Recipient) and travel to program sites; Cultural Components related to food and/or program delivery; and, Central administration costs of up to 10% of the total program budget. In the first year of program operation, each program site is also eligible for up to $10,000 in one-time funding for equipment purchase and installation, supplies, staff training and dietitian fees to support menu planning. Q30. Is administrative funding included in the maximum eligible funding amounts listed above? A30. Yes. The maximum eligible funding amounts listed above are inclusive of all ongoing program costs (including allocated central administration funding). 5

6 Q31. What should be considered when selecting a Transfer Payment Recipient (TPRs)? A31. TPRs will be required to administer funding to local program sites and collect and report data to the ministry. A benefit of selecting a TPR external to the First Nation is that it may provide administrative support once programs have been implemented (e.g. TPR will be responsible for reporting aggregated program data to the Ministry). Utilizing a TPR that has charitable status, will allow programs to access other funding sources and issue charitable receipts for program donations. Q32. Does the TPR need to be the same organization as the applicant? A32. The TPR can be the same, or different from the applicant. Q33. If I already have a service agreement with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services or am an existing Student Nutrition Program Lead Agency, will I required to resubmit my organizational and financial information listed on the application checklist? A33. No. If you have already entered into a service agreement with the ministry or received one-time planning funding from the ministry in Spring 2015 (and this information was provided), you will not be required to resubmit information. Applicants are not required to submit organizational and financial information. Only TPRs are required to submit this information, with the exceptions noted above. Q34. Can First Nations change the TPR after a service agreement has been signed with the ministry? A34. The ministry will consider requests to change TPRs on case by case basis. Changes will not be made within the funding term of the agreement. Q35. What will happen if there are program sites in my application that are already receiving funding from provincially funded community organizations off-reserve? A35. Communities are able to identify the preferred TPRs for their program sites. This includes maintaining a funding relationship with an existing off-reserve community organization or identifying a new TPR in which to transfer funds. Allocations will be determined taking into consideration funding for program sites already receiving provincial program funding. Example: If a program site already receives $2,000 in funding through an existing Lead Agency and is eligible to receive $10,000 through this application, the ministry would allocate an additional $8,000 in funding (not $12,000). 6

7 Q36. If my organization already receives funding from an existing Lead Agency, will my reporting requirements be different for the new funding? A36. Discussions about reporting will take place in August Q37. If a school in the community already receives funding from an existing Lead Agency and is not included in this application, will funding be discontinued? A37. Funding from Lead Agencies will not be discontinued, if the Nation decides not to submit an application to the ministry for additional funding. Q38. Can the funding support more than one meal program at each site? A38. If the program site does not already receive provincial funding for a Student Nutrition Program, sites are eligible to receive funding for one new program per site. If the program site is already receiving provincial funding for a Student Nutrition Program, sites are eligible to enhance existing programs. Q39. Can unspent funds roll over into the next fiscal year? A39. No. Any funds unspent by March 31 will be recovered by the Ministry. If there is underspending in one budget line, there will be opportunity to allocate funds to another budget line if funding is required and of benefit to the program and will be approved on a case by case basis. TPRs will be required to identify anticipated unspent funds through regular forecasting to the ministry. Q40. Are programs required to have external funding? A40. Student Nutrition Programs may need to be cost-shared. If program sites are able to operate SNPs in accordance to the ministry s program principles without external funding, no external fundraising is required. Program sites and TPRs are encouraged to seek external funding/in-kind supports so that program sites can operate to the fullest potential (three food groups, five days per week). Q41. Can ministry funding be used for staffing? A41. All program sites are eligible for staffing funds at the program site level. Applicants will be required to determine the approach that works best for the program sites (e.g. stipends for volunteers, full or part-time staff) depending on the level of program support required. TPRs are only eligible to access funding for staff if they oversee four or more program sites. 7

8 Administration Q42. What will programs be required to report? A42. Program sites will be required to submit regular program data and financial information to the TPR in which they have a funding relationship. The TPR will be required to report financial data (budget, forecasts and expenditures) and program outputs to the ministry. Q43. If the TPR is not the First Nation, is the First Nation eligible for allocated central administration? A43. The total amount of allocated central administration funding (for TPRs and First Nations, combined) must not exceed 10% of the budget. Q44. What happens if a SNP already receives funding from an off-reserve provincially funded community organization? A44. Community organizations off-reserve will continue to fund on-reserve programs that were funded during the school year, prior to the start-date of new programs. In August, the ministry will engage in discussions with applicants and existing funders to determine how this funding will be administered on an ongoing basis as identified in the application (i.e. transferred to new TPR, or maintained with existing agency). Q45. Should I submit this application to my local off-reserve community funded organization or to the ministry? A45. To be considered for this expansion opportunity, First Nations, PTOs, or Tribal Councils must apply to ministry funding directly to firstnationssnp@ontario.ca. Q46. The schools I am applying on behalf of are interested in starting SNPs in the school year. Do I still need to submit my application to the ministry by August 4 th, 2015? A46. Yes. To be considered eligible to begin receiving funding in either the or school years, applications must be received by August 4 th Other Q47. Are there resources available to support the development of my program plan/application? A47. Helpful resources include: Cancer Care Ontario - Healthy Eating Guidelines for School Nutrition Programs: A Resource for First Nations Schools 4 Student Nutrition Program Nutrition Guidelines (2008) cksandmeals/nutrition_guidelines_2008.pdf 8

9 Eating Well with Canada s Food Guide (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) Q48. What happens if start dates are delayed for program sites? A48. Please contact firstnationssnp@ontario.ca if program start dates for approved program sites are delayed. The ministry will allocate funding proportionate to the number of operating days at each program site. Programs are encouraged to start on a part-time basis, if they are not ready to commence full activities on the identified start date. Q49. When will I be notified if my application has been approved by the ministry? A49. Approvals will be communicated as early as possible in August Q50. Can student nutrition program funding be used to support adult alternative learning programs? A50. Funding can be used to support Secondary Education studies for people 18 years of age and under. Q51. Can one-time equipment funding be used to support renovations at the program site? A51. No. One-time funding of up to $10,000 per program site can be used for equipment purchase and installation, supplies, staff training and dietitian fees to support menu planning. One-time funding cannot be used to support capital projects. Q52. What approach has the ministry taken to communicate this funding opportunity to First Nations leadership? A52. In December 2014, the ministry wrote to the Chiefs of Ontario, Political Territorial Organizations (PTOs) and independent and unaffiliated First Nations with initial information about this opportunity. An introductory meeting was held in Toronto in December In early 2015, application information for one time planning funding was sent to Chiefs of Ontario, PTOs and independent and unaffiliated First Nations. In May 2015, the Ministry wrote to Chiefs of Ontario, all PTOs and First Nations Chiefs with information about the application for ongoing program funding. Additional information has been provided through phonecalls, inperson meetings, webinars and teleconferences as requested, by contacting firstnationssnp@ontario.ca. 9