The purpose of the Maryland Emergency Food Program is to: Provide funding to assist emergency food providers in purchasing food for needy individuals in Maryland; Encourage needy individuals to become self-sufficient; and Distribute information on Maryland's earned income tax credit. In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated. Terms Defined. “Administering agency” means an agency or local government approved by the Department to administer the Program in a jurisdiction. “Department” means the Department of Human Services. “Emergency food provider” means a nonprofit or local government-run organization, including a soup kitchen or food pantry, which provides food to needy individuals at no charge. “Jurisdiction” means either Baltimore City or one of the 23 counties in Maryland. “Local government” means a municipal corporation in Maryland subject to the provisions of Article XI-E of the Constitution, the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, one of the 23 counties in Maryland, or a housing authority authorized under Article 44A, Annotated Code of Maryland. “Needy” means an individual or family determined to be in need according to the standards set by the State Advisory Council on Hunger. “Program” means the Maryland Emergency Food Program. “Units of service” means the number of: Bags of food distributed by a food pantry; or Meals served at a food kitchen. The Department shall adopt a formula and qualifications for allocating Program funds to jurisdictions based on funding availability and jurisdiction-wide statistics for the: Number of individuals and families living in poverty; Unemployment rate; Number of individuals and families receiving food stamps; and As available, number of individuals and families requesting food assistance. The Department shall ensure that not more than 5 percent of the funds are used for administrative costs by either the Department, the administering agency, or both of them. The Department shall: Manage the Program and select and approve an administering agency for each jurisdiction; Prepare the application and distribute it to potential participating agencies through the following resources: Selected print media, electronic media, or both print and electronic media; Local departments of social services and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services or other administrative entity under which the Department of Social Services operates; Statewide food provider; Hunger advocacy organizations; Local food provider agencies; and Local governments; and Use the standards and criteria set forth in Regulation .05 of this chapter to ensure that the selected administering agency has adequate internal controls of cash receipts, materials, supplies, and inventories. The administering agency shall: Maintain books, records, documents, and other evidence of all expenditures and income; Maintain records according to generally acceptable accounting standards; and Present, upon receipt of notice by a State auditor or other individual authorized to monitor the Program, all books, records, documents, and other evidence pertaining to the Program for inspection, review, or audit. An agency or local government wishing to become an administering agency shall apply to the Department by submitting an application and include in the application the procedures that the administering agency will use locally to: Notify emergency food providers of the availability of Program grants; Complete a site visit to each applicant who is new to the Maryland Emergency Food Program prior to approval of an application; Make a site visit to each approved food provider at least once a year to ensure that the food provider is using the allocation to purchase food for needy individuals and families; Approve emergency food providers as recipients of Program grants; and Allocate Program grants among approved emergency food providers. The Department shall: Adopt a formula and qualifications for allocating Program funds to the jurisdictions based on funding availability and jurisdiction-wide statistics for the: Number of individuals and families living in poverty; Unemployment rate; Number of individuals and families receiving food stamps; and As available, number of individuals and families requesting food assistance; Notify each local jurisdiction through the administering agency of the availability of Program funds based upon §B(1) of this regulation; and Approve the application before an administering agency may receive a Program grant. The administering agency shall: Assume responsibility for providing emergency food providers with information on the Program, including Program guidelines and fund availability; Accept and process requests for funding assistance from the emergency food providers; Allocate the funding to the emergency food providers based on the procedures approved in the application submitted to the Department; and In collaboration with the Department, distribute information to the emergency food providers on: The Department's self-sufficiency initiatives, and Maryland's earned income tax credit. The administering agency may use no more than the amount approved by the Department for administrative costs. The emergency food provider shall: Use the grant to purchase food to be distributed to needy individuals; Purchase under the Program food produced, grown, and harvested in the State when feasible and cost effective; Provide to needy individuals and families information from the Department that encourages self-sufficiency consistent with the Family Investment Program under COMAR 07.03.03; and Distribute information on Maryland's earned income tax credit. Forms. The Department shall provide to the administering agencies the forms necessary to carry out the Program. The administering agencies shall provide Program service forms to the emergency food providers. Reports. An emergency food provider shall submit a report annually, and other reports as required, to the Department and the administering agency detailing: How the grant was used; and The units of service provided. An administering agency shall submit a report annually, and other reports as required, to the Department detailing for each jurisdiction for which the administering agency is responsible: How the grant was used in each jurisdiction; and The units of service provided in each jurisdiction. The Department shall submit annually to the State Advisory Council on Hunger a report detailing: The total funds appropriated to the Program for the current and prior fiscal years, including the amount allocated for: Administrative costs; Each administering agency; and Emergency food providers in each jurisdiction; and The units of service provided in each jurisdiction. Emergency food providers shall be subject to site visits by the administering agency to ensure that grant awards are used to purchase food for needy individuals and families in accordance with Program requirements as follows: Emergency food providers with grant awards exceeding $6,000 shall be subject to a site visit at least once a year; and Emergency food providers with grant awards of $6,000 or less shall be subject to a site visit at least once every 3 years. The Department shall review the records of each administering agency at least once a year to verify the agency's: Allocations to approved food providers; and Monitoring of food providers. Human Services Article, §§6-409—6-414, Annotated Code of Maryland;Executive Order 01.01.2000.06 Effective date: November 1, 1999 (26:22 Md. R. 1691) Regulation .02B amended effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Regulation .03 amended effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Regulation .04A, B amended effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Regulation .05C amended effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Regulation .06 amended effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Regulation .07B, C amended effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Regulation .08B amended effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Regulation .09 adopted effective November 11, 2002 (29:22 Md. R. 1720) Chapter recodified from COMAR 07.06.20 to COMAR 07.01.20 effective June, 2009 Regulation .09A amended effective May 22, 2017 (44:10 Md. R. 469)