Official Site of The State of New Jersey

This work in approximately five words: Mobile screening connecting families to meals

The Family Nutrition Access & Stability Initiative (FNASI) is supported by OFSA's Building Expanded Access to Nutritious School Meals (BEANS) grant program. Acenda is working with NJ Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S) Hubs, community advocacy groups, faith-based organizations, and other community resource partners to strengthen awareness of and access to school meal programs for families in Cape May, Cumberland and Salem Counties.
 
The project will use Acenda's existing CommCare platform to create a mobile-enabled Nutrition Access Screening and Referral Workflow. Community partners will distribute flyers containing information that allows families to complete a brief screening focused on school meal participation, awareness, and barriers to accessing resources. Following the screening, families will be connected directly to online or downloadable school meal applications for their district. Automated follow-up messages will be sent at 10-day, 30-day and 60-day intervals to assess application completion, identify additional barriers, and provide continued support.
 
The initiative will establish a centralized navigation hub within CommCare to streamline connections between families and available resources. Community resource partners will provide additional family navigation support, helping families address barriers that may prevent them from completing applications or accessing school meals. NourishLink kiosks placed in high-traffic community locations will provide an additional point of access for families who may benefit from in-person or community-based resource navigation.
 
The project will also incorporate community feedback and continuous improvement through CommCare, allowing the initiative to learn from families' experiences and refine the screening, referral, and navigation process over time. By combining mobile technology, community-based outreach, personalized navigation, and continuous feedback, FNASI will reduce barriers to school meal enrollment and create a model that can be sustained and adapted for use in other New Jersey communities.
 
This project supports the New Jersey Food Security Strategic Plan through Strategy 3.1 Tailored Education, Outreach, and Awareness Efforts; Strategy 3.3 Bi-directional Community Engagement; and Strategy 3.4 Screening and Referrals.