Civil Rights - RCCI

USDA requires civil rights training on an annual basis for all who interact with the CNP participants. The training outlines specific civil rights regulations that govern these programs. The training informs administrators of these programs receiving Federal financial assistance of their rights and responsibilities.

Each RCCI must maintain documentation of the training and an attendance record of participants who attended. Either the Civil Rights PowerPoint Presentation or the Civil Rights Webcast can be used.

CNP participants must be advised at the point of service of their right to file a complaint and the complaint procedures. To meet this requirement, the USDA And Justice for All Poster  must be placed in a public location wherever meals or snacks are served.

If meals are delivered to participants in a room or cell, the poster can be attached to the cart delivering the meals, ensuring the poster can be observed by the participant. Alternatively, the poster could be posted in a common area or intake area if necessary for safety reasons.

The USDA updated the And Justice for All poster in 2022 but has not made the updated poster available. Currently, the 2019 version of the poster should be displayed. This poster is green with a picture of the USDA building.

All materials and resources, including websites, which are used to inform the public about the USDA CNP must contain the current USDA nondiscrimination statement (NDS). There are two non-discrimination statements: the full, official statement and the shortened statement.

The Full Statement of the USDA Non-discrimination Statement (Spanish) (Hmong) must be included on USDA CNP materials including: parent handbooks, websites, employee handbooks, and intake forms that contain information about the USDA CNP. For other languages visit the USDA FNS Non-discrimination webpage.

The shortened version of the non-discrimination statement “This institution is an equal opportunity provider” may be used in limited circumstances such as menus, flyers, brochures, etc.

RCCIs with Non-Day Students and RCCIs with Day Students that are not claiming by eligibility are exempt from the public release requirement.

RCCIs with day students that determine eligibility through free & reduced meal applications and/or Direct Certification (DC), must annually provide the Public Release. This must be sent to a variety of community organizations at the beginning of the school year to inform potentially eligible persons that your school or agency participates in the CNP. Maintain documentation of where the public release was sent.

RCCIs are not required to pay to have the public release published. Maintain documentation that shows there was a fee to publish. Please note, the Public Release cannot be posted to the RCCI's website, nor to other materials.