The Summer Food Service Program was established to ensure low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer months when school is not in session. Free meals that meet the federal nutritional guidelines are provided to all children 18 years old and younger at approved SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of low-income children.
Schools may review the Seamless Summer Option to reduce paperwork and streamline the management of your program.
If you have questions about the Summer Food Service Program, please contact a member of the Child Nutrition staff.
2025 Reimbursement Rates
| Rural & Self-Prep | All Other Types of Sites | |
| Breakfast | $3.0875 | $3.0300 |
| Lunch or Supper | $5.4025 | $5.3150 |
| Snack | $1.2800 | $1.2500 |
Civil Rights Training- SFSP Outreach in the Community
- Customizable Flyer 1
- Community Outreach, Kick-off Events, Canvas Days, Soliciting Donations
- Partnerships for Programming
- Statewide Outreach Report - 2022 (pdf)
Statewide Outreach Presentation - 2022 (pdf) - Statewide Outreach Report - 2021 (pdf)
Statewide Outreach Presentation - 2021 (pdf)
Instructional Videos
- SFSP Management Plan Overview
Completing the Sponsor Info Sheet
Completing the Sponsor Budget
Completing checklist documents and applying for DOE approval
Ordering USDA Foods for Summer in CNPWeb
Completing the Sponsor Claim - CNPWeb New Site Entry & Old Site Deactivation Form
- (Adding & removing sites in your Application Packet)
-
Resources for SFSP Site Info Sheets in CNPweb
Is your Site Urban or Rural?
If your site address is in the green area of the USDA Rural Eligibility Map, it is considered "Rural." The rural designation is valid for five years. -
Using school data to qualify your SFSP site
The School Free/Reduced Eligibility from October Survey is a report that references the School's identifying number or “School Site number” that will allow you to use the School’s October Survey (free/reduced enrollment data) to qualify your SFSP site. You can use the site number of a school that is 50% or more free/reduced to qualify the school itself or a site in that school's attendance area.
ED 534 by DistrictUsing Census Data to qualify a site
Trying to qualify the site using school data before the census is recommended.
To check your site's eligibility using the census, type the site's address into the Census Mapper at https://www.fns.usda.gov/area-eligibility. The site must show 50% or more eligibility to qualify (it shows as green on the map).
It is possible to average up to 3 census blocks together as long as the site’s location is in a census block with at least 40% Free/Reduced eligibility. Please contact the DOE child nutrition team for help with census averaging
Traditional Summer Sites and Sponsors
Required forms
- Pre-Operational Site Visit Form
- Two-Week Visit Form
- 4-Week Site Review Form
- Site Review Form Non-Congregate
- Racial and Ethnic Data Form
- Sample News Release
- Daily Meal Count Instructions
- Daily Meal Count Form (Tic Sheet)
- Open Site Consolidated Meal Count Form
Camp Sponsors
Required forms
- 2025 Meal Benefit Application
- Pre-Operational Site Visit Form
- Two-Week Visit Form
- Site Monitoring Review Form
- Racial and Ethnic Data Form
- Sample Application Letter to Parents for Enrolled Sites, Camps, and Conditional Non-Congregate Sites
- SFSP Eligibility Notification Letter for Sponsors Charging for Meals
- Meal Count Worksheet for Camps
- Monthly Meal Count Record - Camps
- Excel Consolidated Meal Count Form for Camps
Additional Resources
What Summer Meals Program to Operate - SFSP, NSLP, SSO
Guidance
- Assessing Costs in the Summer Food Service Program
- Accommodating Disabilities in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program
- Accurate Meal Counting
- Federal SFSP Regulations link to USDA
- Revisions to Instructions for the Calculation of Average Daily Attendance on the Form FNS-418
- SFSP- Do's and Don'ts
- SFSP- Offer vs. Serve
- Unallowable Costs
- USDA Handbooks include administrative guidance for sponsors, monitor's guide, nutrition guidance, and site supervisor's guides
Limited English Proficiency Resources
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - Arabic (pdf)
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - Arabic (Word)
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - French (pdf)
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - French (Word)
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - Portuguese (pdf)
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - Portuguese (Word)
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - Somali (pdf)
- Summer Meal Pattern Summary - Somali (Word)
Menu Planning
- Breakfast Meal Pattern
- Breakfast Production Record
- Grain Crediting Chart
- Lunch and Dinner Meal Pattern
- Lunch - Supper Production Record
- Meal Pattern Summary
- SFSP Meal Production Record - Breakfast (doc)
- SFSP OVS Meal Service Guidelines
- SFSP Sample Menus and Recipes
- SFSP Temperature Check Log
- Snack Meal Pattern
Policy and Procedures of Maine DOE Child Nutrition
- Complaint Data Form
- Procedure for Filing Complaints of Discrimination
- Summer Appeals Policy and Procedure
- Serious Deficiency Summer
Breakfast, Lunch, and Snack Ideas and Recipes
| Breakfast | Breakfast Sandwich Fruit Milk |
Breakfast Sushi Fruit Milk |
Apple Maple Breakfast Bread Fruit Milk |
Yogurt Parfait Milk |
Wild Main Blueberry Oat Muffin (HOM) Fruit Milk |
| Lunch | Taco Salad Shaker w/ Salsa Tortilla Chips Milk |
Hummus Power Pack
|
Chef Salad Shaker w/ Croutons Milk |
Turkey & Cheese Wrap Mexican Corn Salad Milk |
Buffalo Chicken Dip Tortilla Chips Cheese Stick Cherry Tomatoes Milk |
| Snack | Polar Berries (Frozen Grape) Graham Cracker |
Apple Slices w/ Nut Butter |
Brownie Batter Hummus w/ Pretzels or Graham Crackers |
Yogurt Dip w/ Fruit |
Click Here to check out the latest Summer Meals Newsletter from USDA.