At a minimum, the State Coordinator shall be responsible for:

(a) Preparation of a budget,

(b) The conduct of the needs assessment,

(c) Development of a State plan,

(d) Implementation of the approved State Plan,

(e) Evaluation of the progress and implementation of the State Plan,

(f) Coordination of the Program with the Child Nutrition Programs at the State and local levels,

(g) Coordination of the Program with other nutrition education and training programs conducted with Federal or State funds,

(h) Communication of needs and accomplishments of State nutrition education and training programs to parents and the community at large,

(i) Use of Program funds in compliance with all regulations, instructions, or other guidance material provided by FNS,

(j) Coordinating the submission and preparation of the Program financial status report (FNS-777), and

(k) Annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the State Plan.

(a) The needs assessment is an ongoing process which identifies the discrepancies between “what should be” and “what is” and shall be applied to each category listed below to enable State agencies to determine their nutrition education and training needs for each year. The needs assessment shall identify the following as a minimum:

(1) Children, teachers, and food service personnel in need of nutrition education and training;

(2) Existing State or federally funded nutrition education and training programs including their:

(i) Goals and objectives;

(ii) Source and level of funding;

(iii) Any available documentation of their relative success or failure; and

(iv) Factors contributing to their success or failure;

(3) Offices or agencies at the State and local level designated to be responsible for nutrition education and training of teachers and school food service personnel;

(4) Any relevant State nutrition education mandates;

(5) Funding levels at the State and local level for preservice and inservice nutrition education and training of food service personnel and teachers;

(6) State and local individuals, and groups conducting nutrition education and training;

(7) Materials which are currently available for nutrition education and training programs, and determine for each:

(i) Subject area and content covered;

(ii) Grade level;

(iii) How utilized;

(iv) Acceptability by user;

(v) Currency of materials;

(8) Any major child nutrition related health problems in each State;

(9) Existing sources of primary and secondary data, including any data that has been collected for documenting the State's nutrition education and training needs;

(10) Available documentation of the competencies of teachers in the area of nutrition education;

(11) Available documentation of the competencies of food service personnel;

(12) Problems encountered by schools and institutions in procuring nutritious food economically and in preparing nutritious appetizing meals and areas where training can assist in alleviating these problems;

(13) Problems teachers encounter in conducting effective nutrition education activities and areas where inservice training or materials can assist in alleviating these problems;

(14) Problems in dietary habits of children and areas where nutrition education may assist in positive changes;

(15) Problems encountered in coordinating the nutrition education by teachers with the meal preparation and activities of the food service facility and areas where training might alleviate these problems.

(b) The needs assessment should be an ongoing process and provide not only data on current activities but also a description of the problems and needs in each category and whether training or materials would help alleviate the identified problems.

(a) General. Each fiscal year the State agency shall submit a State plan for Nutrition Education and Training for approval to FNS. The State plan shall be based on the needs identified from the ongoing needs assessment and evaluation of the State plans from previous years. The State plan shall be submitted in accordance with § 227.30(e). Guidance for the preparation and submission of the State plan shall be provided by FNS.

(b) Requirements for the State plan. The State plan shall provide the following:

(1) Description of the ongoing needs assessment conducted within the State;

(2) The findings of the needs assessment within the State used to determine the goals and objectives of the State plan and results of the evaluation of the previous years' State plans for:

(i) Inservice training of food service personnel,

(ii) Nutrition education of children,

(iii) Inservice training in nutrition education for teachers;

(3) Goals and objectives of the State plan;

(4) Identification of the priority populations to be reached during the fiscal year;

(5) Provisions for coordinating the nutrition education and training programs carried out with funds made available under this part with any related publicly supported programs being carried out within the State to include:

(i) Identification of existing programs that may be utilized,

(ii) Description of how representatives of such groups are to be involved in the planning and implementation of the State program;

(iii) Criteria and procedure for selection of such representatives;

(6) Plans to solicit advice and recommendations of the National Advisory Council on Child Nutrition, State educational or other appropriate agencies; the U.S. Department of Education; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and other interested groups and individuals concerned with improvement of child nutrition.

(7) Plans, including a timetable, for reaching all children in the State with instruction in the nutritional value of foods and the relationship among food, nutrition and health, for inservice training of food service personnel in the principles and skills of food service management and nutrition and for inservice instruction for teachers in sound principles of nutrition education;

(8) Any plans for using, on a priority basis, the resources of the land-grant colleges eligible to receive funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (12 Stat. 503; 7 U.S.C. 301 through 305, 307, and 308) or the Act of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 417, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 312 through 326 and 328), including the Tuskegee Institute;

(9) A brief description of the program or activities to be contracted with land-grant colleges, described above, and other institutions of higher education, and other public or private nonprofit educational or research agencies, institutions or organizations for carrying out nutrition education and training activities;

(10) A brief description of pilot projects, including objectives, subject matter and expected outcomes, to be contracted with the land-grant colleges described above, other institutions of higher education, public and nonprofit educational or research agencies, institutions, or organizations for but not limited to projects for development, demonstration, testing and evaluation of curricula for use in early childhood, elementary, and secondary education programs;

(11) Identification of schools, school districts, and sponsoring agencies which may agree to participate in the nutrition education and training program;

(12) A brief description of (i) State agency sponsored pilot projects including objectives, subject matter and anticipated outcomes and (ii) nutrition education and training programs to be conducted by schools, school districts, and sponsoring agencies receiving funds under this provision including objectives, subject matter and expected outcomes;

(13) Time frame and milestones for implementation of State plans;

(14) Plans to evaluate program activities including an evaluation component for each objective of the State plan;

(15) Description of staff available to perform State agency responsibilities of the State nutrition education and training program which includes:

(i) Definition of duties and responsibilities,

(ii) Minimum professional qualifications,

(iii) Number and classification of personnel;

(16) A description of the procedures used to comply with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including racial and ethnic participation data collection, public notification procedures and the annual civil rights compliance review process;

(17) Plans for the conduct of audits in accordance with § 227.31;

(18) A budget detailing the use of program funds;

(19) Description of the financial management system in accordance with § 227.30(e);

(20) Description of the management evaluation and review procedures established in accordance with § 227.31(b); and

(21) Other components that the States determine necessary.

(c) States eligible to receive additional funds pursuant to § 227.30(b-1) shall submit an amendment to the State plan to the Food and Nutrition Service Regional Office for prior approval.