It’s that time of the year where many of us will take a break from busy work schedules to spend the holidays with family and friends.
OSPI Child Nutrition Services will not be releasing a weekly newsletter on the following dates:
- Monday, November 29, 2021
- Monday, December 27, 2021
- Monday, January 3, 2022
Staff will be available to answer questions and provide technical assistance.
Thank you for all you do to provide nutritious meals to children in our state, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday season.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released SP 02-2022, CACFP 03-2022; SFSP 01-2022: Updates to the Federal Micro-Purchase Threshold in 2 CFR 200.320(a)(1).
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Child Nutrition Services has been implementing these changes since the Uniform Grant Guidance was updated on November 12, 2020.
Overview
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Micro-Purchase Distribution: Previously, federal regulations required Child Nutrition Program sponsors to distribute micro-purchases equitably among qualified suppliers to the extent practicable. This language has changed to state to the maximum extent practicable, sponsors should distribute micro-purchases equitably among qualified suppliers.
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Micro-Purchase Awarded Without Competition: Federal regulations previously stated that micro-purchases may be awarded without soliciting competitive quotes if a sponsor considers the price to be reasonable. This language has been updated to state that micro-purchases may be awarded without soliciting competitive price or rate quotations, if the sponsor “considers the price to be reasonable based on research, experience, purchase history or other information and documents its files accordingly.”
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Low Risk Certification: Low Risk Certification: As of November 2020, the Uniform Grant Guidance allows non-federal entities, such as CACFP sponsors, to self-certify they are low risk and use a micro-purchase threshold of $50,000.
Please review the Policy Memo in full for more details.
Questions? Please email the CNS Procurement inbox.
Physical and Mailing Addresses Must Be Updated in WINS
In the next few weeks your updated Unified Permanent Child Nutrition Program Agreement will be sent to your institution and it is important that your address is up to date.
Please verify that your address is populating correctly in WINS by viewing the left bottom portion of your Sponsor Profile page.
If the street name is missing you will need to edit your address to place the street number and street name in the “Address” line. To do this, make a revision to your Sponsor Application in the Address Section and resubmit your application.
Questions? Please email your CACFP Specialist.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided reimbursement to sponsors of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for emergency operating costs incurred during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The purpose of this reimbursement was to:
- Provide additional funding to sponsors of Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) whose revenues declined or were temporarily interrupted due to restrictions and closures during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Help CNP sponsors rebuild and continue to serve their community.
What could these funds be used for?
All additional payments made to eligible Child Nutrition Program sponsors must be deposited to the sponsor’s food service account. Funds used are subject to the same allowable cost requirements as other meal reimbursement funds as detailed in FNS Instruction 796-2, Rev. 4.
How do I account for the emergency funds received?
Sponsors must maintain documentation supporting these reimbursements for future audit or oversight purposes. This includes:
- Revisions to Sponsor’s budget in WINS is unnecessary to reflect the receival of these funds as this was a one-time payment.
- Documentation of the amount of money received, when it was received, where it was deposited and how the money was used.
OSPI CNS must ensure that any money received by a Sponsor was either utilized for allowable purposes or disbursed to eligible sites as appropriate.
Resources
Questions? Please email your CACFP Specialist.
When meal service occurs onsite, it is expected that onsite monitoring also occur to the maximum extent practicable. Organizations needing to conduct monitoring remotely due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19 may request approval to use the Nationwide Waiver of Onsite Monitoring Requirements.
Additional Waiver for Washington State
In addition to this waiver, USDA approved OSPI Child Nutrition’s waiver request to allow for additional CACFP monitoring flexibilities for FY22 in Washington state.
These flexibilities allow:
- Sponsors to conduct 2 monitoring visits instead of 3.
- All monitoring visits to be announced, including the observation of a meal service.
Waiver-Use
- USDA requires Sponsors to conduct 3 monitoring visits during the year with at least two visits being unannounced. One of the unannounced visits must include a meal service observation.
- When extenuating circumstances exist due to COVID or when flexibility is needed for announced, remote monitoring, this waiver may be used.
- If your organization previously requested use of this waiver, your specialist notified you that approval was contingent on USDA’s approval for State use. Your Specialist will be reaching out to you for notification of approval status to use this waiver during FY 22.
If your organization needs to request use of the additional monitoring flexibilities waiver or to conduct monitoring off-site, please submit your CACFP Meal Distribution Plan (MDP) & Waiver Request.
Questions? Please email you CACFP Specialist.
Please welcome our new Administrative Program Specialist, Andy Weaver!
Andy has a multitude of experience surrounding business analysis and food service management. His experience in the non-profit food service industry has informed him about the importance of food and nutrition in individual's lives and more importantly the community at large.
He has worked closely with the CACFP and SFSP in his previous role with a non-profit food vending company. In his role, he assisted in administrative reviews, addressing foodservice concerns, and attended USDA trainings to stay up-to-date on important regulation changes. His recent work experience included providing free training classes to at-risk individuals.
Andy’s educational background includes a focus on Political Science, which has helped him to obtain a strong grasp on how competing interests must work together for growth and sustainability. His passion truly lies in using food as a tool to transform lives.
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The Farm to School Purchasing Grant is available to schools, child care centers, and summer meal program operators for the purchase and use of Washington-grown foods in child nutrition programs. Multiple program tracks will be funded according to program type and size to ensure grant funds are accessible to school districts of all sizes, CACFP child care and Tribal early learning centers, and summer meal programs.
Now Open in iGrants!
The grant is now open in iGrants and will close December 20, 2021! Application resources are available on the Farm to School Purchasing Grants website. Follow these steps to start preparing your application now:
- Create an account in iGrants, if you do not already have one. You can use the Grant Application Guide for more details. Note: it can take up to 48 hours to set up a new account.
- Prepare to apply using the Application Guide. The Application Guide includes the information and questions that will be asked in the application. You can use this to start preparing your responses!
Resources
Questions? Please email the WSDA Farm to School inbox or Kendra Vandree, OSPI Farm to Program Specialist.
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When you are experiencing issues with submitting your claim or when your claim is in error status, please contact your Program Specialist to assist you. Your Specialist will help to troubleshoot what the issue(s) may be.
Do not reach out to CNS’s Fiscal Department or the WINS team directly.
Best Practices for Submitting Claims
- Submit your claim by the 10th of the month. This will ensure your claim is in “OK to Pay” status prior to 5:00 pm PT on the 15th.
- Always select “Preview Errors” at the bottom of each site claim once information is entered.
- Review the Claiming Error Messages in WINS Information Sheet for more details on possible errors.
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Common Errors
- Total Attendance is entered with the claim and is the sum of children in attendance each day during the month. Meals claimed in excess of Total Attendance will result in a claim error.
- WINS edit checks the number of approved operating days for each site to the number of operating days entered in the site claim. If these numbers don’t match, the claim will go into error status.
Reminders
If you missed submitting your claim by the 15th, that's okay! There is a 60-day deadline to file your monthly claim.
Claiming Resources
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