Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter

Indiana Department of Education sent this bulletin at 08/09/2019 09:01 AM EDT

08/09/2019

Dear Food Service Contact,

This email provides news for schools concerning the Child Nutrition Programs from the USDA and the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). If you are the food service contact for your school or corporation, it is your responsibility to relay important information provided to you about the Child Nutrition Programs to other staff members.

Reimbursement Rates

Updated Reimbursement Rates for 2019-2020 are now available!
Sponsors approved for PY 2020 and needing to submit a claim for July are now able to submit.
The extra reimbursement for meeting the meal pattern requirements has increased from .06 cents per lunch to .07 cents per lunch.
Find the new rates here.
Questions? Contact SCNFinance@doe.in.gov.

CNPweb Program Year (PY) 2020 Common Issues

Please read below for some common CNPweb mistakes that reviewers are finding.
- All sponsors are required to submit an updated procurement plan to Cindy Harris at charris@doe.in.gov. Sponsors can download the updated template by selecting the Word document icon on the row for the Procurement Plan on the Packet Tab.
- Sponsors are entering information for a school employee for the free and reduced software company contact. This area should include information for a contact at the actual software company itself. If you do not have a contact for the company, feel free to leave this area blank.
- For #123 and 124, this amount needs to include ALL federal dollars and not just money from food service. This means that any federal grants, title 1 dollars, CACFP funds, SFSP funds, etc. need to be included in this amount.
Questions? Contact Ashley Heller at aheller@doe.in.gov.

Foster Eligibility

Currently there is an issue with identifying foster students using the Direct Certification (DC) Look Up feature in the STN App Center. Luckily there are a number of ways students can be approved for free meals due to foster status:
- DC match list download – foster students are matching on DC match list downloads without any problem. They are identified with a W in the assistance column (column U). As a reminder, free status only applies to the foster student and cannot be extended to others in the household.
- Foster documentation from state or court – households can submit documentation to the school that clearly states the student is a foster child or a ward of the court/state. The documentation must be from this current school year. This documentation is all that schools need to approve foster students for free meals, no application necessary.
- Application with foster box checked – households can submit an application with the foster student’s name and the box checked. If the household is only applying for the foster child, then the income section can be skipped. Sponsors can contact the household ahead of time to double check that this is a foster situation, but approval should not be delayed. If there are still questions, the application can be approved based on face value and then verified for cause if necessary.
Please note, some sponsors were instructed to contact the Department of Child Services (DCS) for a list of foster children in their school. DCS is not able to provide that information. Instead this list can only be obtained by conducting DC match list downloads.
Click here for more information about approving foster students for free meals. Check out page six of the Free and Reduced FAQ for additional information about foster eligibility. Check out page six of the Direct Certification FAQ for additional information regarding foster students.
Questions? Contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov.

School Nutrition Program Manual

The School Nutrition Program Manual has been updated.
The manual now includes up-to-date information for all topics regarding the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and Special Milk Program.
Information covered in the manual includes:
- Menu Planning
- Food Distribution Program
- Procurement
- Free and Reduced Price Eligibility
- Financial Management
- Administrative Review
- Resources
Click here to access the updated manual.
Questions? Contact your field specialist.

*NEW* Breakfast Materials

IDOE has created new materials regarding breakfast for sponsors.
Sponsors can view an entire in-depth webinar on breakfast here.
Sponsors also can download materials on the benefits of breakfast and the steps to begin the breakfast program in their schools.
- These materials would be great resources for school foodservice to share with other stakeholders, such as the school board, superintendent, principal, or parents, when trying to begin a breakfast program in their school.
Want even more information on breakfast? Click here to visit IDOE's School Breakfast Program Webpage.
Questions? Contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov or your field specialist.

Purdue Extension Nutrition Education Program

Have you ever wondered what exactly Purdue Extension’s Nutrition Education Program (NEP) does?
NEP's five focus areas are nutrition, physical activity, food security, food safety, and food resource management.
They work with community partners on making healthy choices more accessible for SNAP-eligible individuals in limited resource communities.
- NEP does this through a mix of direct education and policy, system, and environmental (PSE) change.
Currently, NEP is working with schools on projects ranging from exciting, in-class education that includes food demos and healthy snacks for the children, to school-wide wellness policies that create healthy environments for the whole school community.
NEP can work with schools on learning/sharing gardens, breakfast after the bell, physical activity initiatives, food rescue, farm-to-school programs, and much more!
Through school assessments and feedback, NEP will help pinpoint areas for improvement and work with you to make your dreams for your schools a reality.
The Nutrition Education Program currently exists in counties all across the state of Indiana, and all services are completely free!
Questions? Contact your local Purdue Extension office to find out more. You can find who your local contact is here.
You can also visit eatgathergo.org for free recipes, videos, and more!

Miss a Weekly School Nutrition Newsletter? Click here to access previous newsletters!

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Please do not reply directly to this email. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this email, please contact Allie Caito-Sipe at acaito@doe.in.gov, call (317) 232-0849, or toll-free at 1-800-537-1142 ext. 20849, or contact Ashley Heller at aheller@doe.in.gov, call (317) 232-0544, or toll-free at 1-800-537-1142 ext. 20544.

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