Summer Food Service Program Updates – April 2021
Important Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) Information
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Information provided in this bulletin reflects what we know at this time. With the evolving COVID-19 situation, information may change and we will provide updates in the bulletin.
The Summer Meal Programs 2022 Application Guidance for Schools and Non-School Community Organizations is designed to guide you through the end of the school year, and transition to the Summer Program when school is out for the summer.
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Renewing sponsors: Cyber-Linked Interactive Child Nutrition System (CLiCS) Program Year 2022 SFSP and SSO applications are now available. Select Program Year 2022 to renew your Sponsor and Site Applications.
Reminders about application approval:
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Applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, once both a sponsor and a site application(s) have been submitted in CLiCS.
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Approval of a complete and correct application may take up to 45 days. Submit applications as early as possible to ensure they are approved before summer meal service begins.
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Applications must be approved before meals may be claimed for reimbursement. For example, if a site serves meals on June 10, but the application is not approved until June 11, meals served on June 10 cannot be claimed for reimbursement.
New SFSP applicants: Those who have not previously participated in the SFSP must complete the online SFSP Interest Survey by April 9 (extended from April 1) and will then be contacted by Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) staff. All new sponsors are strongly encouraged to submit their applications as early as possible, but no later than May 1. Refer to the SFSP Fact Sheet for addition resources.
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On April 1, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) released Child Nutrition Response #83 Experience Sponsor Nationwide Waiver, which allows sponsors that participated in SFSP in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 but not in FY2020 to use MDE’s experienced sponsor application process. Additionally, FNS is waiving the requirement for state agencies to conduct pre-approval visits of SFSP sponsors that did not participate in SFSP in FY 2020, but participated in FY 2019. This waiver applies to state agencies and local organizations administering the SFSP. This waiver is effective immediately through September 30, 2021.
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Eligible sites for SFSP and SSO are those that serve children in low-income areas or those that serve specific groups of low-income children. Sponsors must provide documentation that proposed sites meet the income eligibility criteria required by law. There are three common types of sites: open sites, camps (residential and nonresidential), and closed enrolled sites.
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Camps may also participate as a site, but are reimbursed only for those enrolled children who meet the free or reduced-price eligibility standards.
Sites that do not qualify as an open site may participate as closed enrolled if serving a group of children where at least 50 percent of the enrolled children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. Refer to the USDA Administrative Guide for SFSP for more information.
NOTE: When evaluating a sponsor’s proposed food service site, the state agency must ensure that the area where the site proposes to serve meals is not or will not be served in whole or in part by another site, unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the state agency that each site will serve children not served by any other site in the same area for the same meal.
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Program guidance is available in the USDA handbooks, which are available on the USDA SFSP Program Guidance website. Posted versions have not been updated in several years, so sponsors must refer to policy memos for recent updates and guidance. Sponsors are expected to be knowledgeable about content and use as a resource. All sites must have a copy or link to Site Supervisor's Guide (Guide –English and Guide – Spanish) for a quick reference.
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Media Release
Although the state agency will issue a statewide news release, both SFSP and SSO open and restricted open sites must promote their program to the local community using local newspaper, radio, flyers/posters/signage, social media, robot calls, and more to get the word out. Closed enrolled and camps promote their program to anticipated participating families. The nondiscrimination statement must be included on all communication with the public.
Open Site Posters
All open and restricted open sites must have an Open Site Poster visible to the public promoting the availability of meals with operational information: days, dates, meal service times, start and closing dates, and contact information.
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Visit the Hunger Impact Partners website for information about the Free Meals for Kids mobile app and flyers available in Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Russian and Oromo. Sponsors of Open Sites may send copies of their menus and a photo of their site to add to the Free Meals for Kids app to market their meal program
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SFAs and SFSP sponsors with FSMC contracts expiring in SY2020-21 may, pursuant to 2 CFR 200.320(c)(3), use the emergency noncompetitive proposal procurement method to negotiate a new one-year FSMC contract for SY 2021-22. To ensure program integrity moving forward, contracts resulting from such noncompetitive proposals may not exercise renewal options.
Sponsors who began after May 1, 2020:
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This waiver does not apply to new SFSP sponsors who began after May 1, 2020. All new sponsors must follow regular procurement methods. It is strongly recommended that sponsors use MDE documents for procurement.
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Sponsors procuring vended meals or FSMC contract must follow the 2 CFR 200 regulations.
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View Procurement Methods and Processes for details.
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Bids/Contracts should include language that includes all child nutrition programs the sponsor is or will be operating during the contract period.
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The value of the annual procurement for all child nutrition programs dictates the procurement method. Formal procurement begins for at $175,000 for school sponsors and at $250,000 for non-school sponsors.
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Formal contracts must be submitted to MDE for review and approval before solicitation. State agency representative must be present for all formal bid openings.
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Visit the SFSP Procurement and Contracts webpage for procurement information and new/renewal vended meal contract templates.
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Read the Procurement section of the USDA Administration Guide for SFSP also for details.
NOTE: You must upload a Contract for Vended Meals or a Food Service Management Company Contract into your CLiCS site application before the application can be approved. Notify our office if there will be a delay.
TIP: To determine estimated value of a contract, multiply all estimated meals to be served for all sites (site application #10 the total estimated children to be served) times the total number of operating days times the estimated cost for both meals. The total will determine whether the informal or formal procurement method should be followed.
Example: Vended meals for multiple sites total 1000 children for breakfast and lunch. 1000 breakfasts and 1000 lunches are bundled daily times 80 operating days June through August times the estimated vended meal cost for both meals totaling $6.00 = $480,000. This means a formal contract is required if the sponsor is new since May 1, 2020.
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All sites, including mobile meal vehicles, must have the And Justice for All poster visible to the public. Order And Justice for All posters from the Minnesota Department of Education. Translated versions of the And Justice for All poster are available for download from the USDA website.
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The sponsor may use visual identification to determine a participant’s racial and ethnic category or the parents of a participant may be asked to identify the racial and ethnic group of their child(ren).
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A participant may be included in the group that he/she appears to belong, identifies with, or is regarded as a member by the community.
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To provide flexibility and ensure data quality, separate categories shall be used when collecting and reporting race and ethnicity. Ethnicity shall be collected first. Respondents shall be offered the option of selecting one or more racial designations.
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Program monitoring is an essential part of a successful Summer Food Service Program. Sponsors must monitor their summer food sites regularly. At this time virtual monitoring and desk audits are allowed to ensure the programs meet requirements and operate smoothly. The minimum requirements for sponsor’s monitoring visits to SFSP sites are described below.
Monitoring Visit Requirements for NEW SFSP Sites and sites that had operational challenges in the prior year:
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One monitoring visit conducted before the site begins operating, during which the Sponsor Pre-Operational Visit to Sites should be completed.
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One monitoring visit conducted in the first week of program operation, during which the Site Visit Form should be completed. This visit is waived for returning sites in good standing.
Monitoring Visit Requirements for All SFSP sites (new and returning):
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Schools: SFSP for Program Year 2022 – Tuesdays @ 2 Webinar
Schools Only: Join us for the SFSP for Program Year 2022 webinar on Tuesday, April 13, at 2 p.m., to learn about the SFSP and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) programs and application process for program year 2022. Read session descriptions and register for Tuesdays @ 2 webinars.
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