Summer Food Service Program Updates - Week of March 5, 2018

department of education

Summer Food Service Program Updates – Week of March 5, 2018


Program Applications and Interest Survey

The 2018 summer food program applications should be available in CLiCS the last week in March and are due May 1. Select Program Year 2019 when applying. Application instructions will be available on the SFSP webpage in the Applications section. If your organization is new to summer food and interested in becoming a new SFSP sponsor, complete this Interest Survey. Renewing SFSP sponsors Do Not need to submit a declaration of intent this year on the SFSP webpage.

Not planning to renew your SFSP application this summer? Please send a message to mde.fns@state.mn.us and let us know the reason.

Are you wondering if a site is eligible to participate as an open site in the SFSP?

  • To be open to all children in the area, a site must be located where at least 50 percent of the children are eligible for free/reduced-price meals.
  • Public school and census data are used to determine eligible areas. Once a site is determined area eligible, the eligibility is good for five years.
  • Check out the list of schools that are eligible based on school data or view the Child Nutrition Program Eligibility Map to see school- and census-eligible areas.
  • To check a site’s eligibility on the map, open the map and select the Summer Meal Programs bar on the right. Census-eligible areas will be shaded pink and school data-eligible areas will be dotted. Type in a site address at the top of the map and select Map Address. If the red balloon is in a pink shaded area, or a dotted area, the site is area eligible.

Sponsors can check the dates of eligibility for renewing SFSP sites in CLiCS on the 2018 SFSP site application, in the site participation eligibility section.

If a site is not area eligible, but is serving a group of children and over 50 percent of them are eligible for free/reduced-price meals, other methods may be used to qualify the site. For more information, check out the site eligibility section in the USDA Administrative Guidance for Sponsors or contact our office.

View the 2018 Reimbursement Rates for SFSP.


Training Opportunities – New eLearning option this year!

New this year! SFSP training will be available through online courses that sponsors can access at any time. SFSP Basics, Refresher courses and a 45-minute Civil Rights course will be available. The SFSP Basics includes 19 interactive courses, which are each about 10-15 minutes in length. The SFSP Refresher includes three short courses, one of which is a shortened version of the Civil Rights course.

A link to the online courses will be available on the SFSP Training webpage by March 14. For a sneak peek, check out the first topic on SFSP Participant Eligibility (10 minutes). We’re excited to hear what you think of the new eLearning courses!

A few in-person workshops will also be offered, but if you take the online courses, you don’t need to attend an in-person workshop! Those who register for an in-person workshop must view the online Basics courses prior to attending an in-person workshop. A registration link for the in-person workshops is available on the SFSP Training webpage.

 

2018 SFSP Grant offered by Second Harvest Heartland (SHH) – Now Open!

In partnership with No Kid Hungry, the national anti-hunger campaign under Share Our Strength, SHH is offering grant support of up to $5,000 dollars to support investment in SFSP to serve more summer meals across SHH’s service area.

For more information, visit the Second Harvest Heartland website.

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