The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Experiences and Operations of Sponsors of the Summer Food Service Program in Maryland, USA: A Multiphase Mixed Methods Study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) was allowed to operate in untraditional non-summer months to ensure children did not lose access to free and reduced-priced nutritious meals when schools were mandated to close in the United States. This study assessed the impact of the pandemic on the operations and experiences of Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors in the state of Maryland during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (Phase I) and 2021 (Phase II). This study used a multiphase explanatory sequential mixed methods design with qualitative prioritization. Maryland SFSP sponsors completed an online survey (Phase I: n = 27, Phase II: n = 30), and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with a subset of sponsors who completed the survey (Phase I: n = 12, Phase II: n = 7). Inductive and deductive analyses were used for qualitative data, and descriptive statistics were used for quantitative data. The COVID-19 pandemic caused SFSP sponsors to change their operations. Sponsors were primarily concerned about staff safety/burnout and decreased participation. Sponsors perceived waivers implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture to be crucial in enabling them to serve meals to children during the pandemic. The findings from our study support advocacy efforts to permanently implement waivers and provide free school meals for all children.

Serving Summer Meals During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of 2 Summer Food Service Program Sponsors in Maryland.

BACKGROUND: The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides free and nutritious meals to children under age 18 during out-of-school times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland sponsors served over 9.5 million meals to children through an expanded version of the SFSP. This study aimed to explore and compare the factors that enabled 2 SFSP sponsors in Maryland to dramatically increase meals distribution during the pandemic. METHODS: Sponsors were selected based on their responses in the larger study and demographic characteristics of the area in which they served. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted over Zoom-4 interviews with Sponsor A (3 interviews with the sponsor, 1 interview with their vendor) and 1 interview with Sponsor B. Qualitative data were analyzed inductively and deductively. Participation data from 2019 and 2020 were obtained from the Maryland State Department of Education and analyzed. RESULTS: Despite their differences in organization type and geographic region, they identified similar facilitators to their success-communication with the community and utilization of the United States Department of Agriculture-issued waivers. CONCLUSIONS: Strengthening community communication networks and permanently integrating more flexibility into regulation of the SFSP may increase meals participation during future out-of-school times.