Summer Food Service Program Updates – April 2022
Important Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Information. You can jump to the section by clicking the link.
Congress has not extended the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) authority to issue nationwide waivers so we are returning to pre-pandemic Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) operations.
This means sponsors and sites must:
- Meet regular eligibility requirements.
- Be approved as a site in the Cyber-Linked Interactive Child Nutrition System (CLiCS).
- Have all meals eaten on-site in a congregate setting.
- Sponsors must complete the required in-person site monitoring visits. Visit the SFSP Monitoring webpage for more information.
Sites may not:
- Use COVID-19 area eligible waiver to participate in SFSP
- Claim meals served at a location that is not approved as a site in CLiCS until the date on which the site application is approved. For example, if a site starts operating on June 13, but is not approved in CLiCS until June 20, meals served prior to June 20 cannot be claimed for reimbursement.
- Meals distributed off-site (grab and go, home delivered, etc.) will not be reimbursed.
To facilitate the transition to pre-COVID program operations, MDE will be conducting onsite administrative reviews of sponsors and sites.
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Are you wondering if a site is eligible to participate in SFSP?
A site is a location where meals are served and children eat in a supervised setting. SFSP sites must meet eligibility requirements. Sponsors are responsible for properly evaluating and determining if a site may participate in the SFSP.
View How to Determine Eligibility of Summer Food Service Program Sites for more information.
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SFSP training is offered online again this year and sponsors and staff may access it at any time. The following courses are available online on the SFSP Training webpage.
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Planning and Administering the SFSP 2022 (also known as MDE-100) includes 19 interactive courses, each about 10-15 minutes long. All new SFSP sponsors must complete this course and MDE recommends that all renewing sponsors complete this course.
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SFSP Annual Refresher Training 2022 (also known as MDE-170) includes three courses, one of which is a civil rights course (1.5 hours). All renewing sponsors must complete this course.
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Civil Rights (1 hour). All SFSP “Frontline staff” must complete this course. Frontline staff are those who interact with program applicants or participants, and those persons who supervise frontline staff.
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Menu Building Basics – Utilizing Child Nutrition (CN) Labels and USDA Recipes to Build a Cycle Menu (1 hour). MDE recommends that all new and renewing sponsors complete this course.
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SFSP Meal Planning for Summer Success! (1 hour). MDE recommends that all new and renewing sponsors complete this course.
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School Food Authorities (SFAs): All currently approved Seamless Summer Option (SSO) applications in CLiCS will be copied and rolled over in CLiCS for program year 2023. Current USDA Waivers, including statewide eligibility, will remain in effect only through June 30.
- During the week of March 28, rolled over 2023 SSO (only) applications will be automatically approved in CLiCS for continued SSO operation through June 30.
- If you are planning to operate SSO or SFSP beyond June 30, you must update the sponsor and site applications between April 4 and May 15 to reflect operations after June 30 throughout the end of the summer. Refer to the instructions below regarding SFSP Applications in CLiCS.
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The 2022 SFSP applications will be available in CLiCS no later than April 4. Select Program Year 2023 when applying. Application instructions are available on the SFSP Applications webpage.
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New sponsor applications (those who did not operate SFSP in summer 2021) are due by May 1.
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Renewing sponsor applications (those who did operate SFSP in summer 2021) are due by May 15.
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Not planning to renew your SFSP application this summer? Please send a message to fns@state.mn.us and let us know the reason.
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USDA has announced the SFSP reimbursement rates for calendar year 2022. To see the rates and more details, view the Summer Food Service Program Reimbursement Rates 2022.
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Visit the SFSP Procurement and Contracts webpage for procurement information and 2022 new/renewal vended meal contract templates. If your site receives vended meals, 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.
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View the 2022 Adult Meal Prices and Guidance on offering adult meals in the SFSP.
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