There's a new way to document your center’s for-profit eligibility besides the CACFP Attendance Roster!
Child care institutions that are registered with the Internal Revenue Service as for-profit can participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) if at least 25% of the children in care are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Eligibility is based on total attendance or license capacity (whichever is less).
A list of children in attendance who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, attendance or sign-in/out records, and Enrollment Income Eligibility Applications (EIEAs) need to be on file to document an institution’s eligibility each month.
For-profit institutions may not submit a claim in any month where they do not meet the 25% free and reduced-price eligibility requirement.
For-Profit Eligibility Tracking
Some institutions complete a monthly CACFP Attendance Roster for each site each month to document for-profit eligibility. This roster helps collect information for your study month and requires more details than what is required to document for-profit eligibility.
New Templates Help Streamline the Process!
OSPI Child Nutrition Services recently released Monthly and Yearly For-Profit Eligibility templates to help you document for-profit eligibility.
Templates and reference sheets are located on the CACFP Requirements and Materials webpage, under the 'For-Profit Centers' dropdown.
Questions? Contact your CACFP Specialist.
Child Nutrition Program Administrative Reviews (ARs) and Procurement Reviews are scheduled to resume in fiscal year 21–22 (FY22). We understand the challenges CACFP Sponsors face as they continue to operate programs or reopen institutions.
Administrative Reviews
Under nationwide waiver #95 the State agency may conduct the administrative review offsite. A hybrid model of review may be utilized where the records review is conducted offsite while the expectation is that we will conduct meal observations onsite. Please note, meal observation may be unannounced.
Program Specialists will begin notifying Sponsors of their Administrative Review in late December. This notification will include the review date and a documentation checklist with review materials to either submit for a hybrid review or have available during the onsite reviews. If you are planning to submit review documentation for a hybrid review, you may upload review documents in WINS or send these documents to you Program Specialist via secure email.
OSPI Child Nutrition Services (CNS) has considered many factors as we prepare to conduct AR’s. To ensure we are providing the best customer service, we have requested additional information prior to our on-site reviews. If you have not yet provided your Program Specialist with your organization’s COVID protocol please do so as soon as possible.
COVID Protocols Should Include:
- Organization requirements for on-site visitors
- On-site COVID-19 safety protocols
- Additional preferences related to the public health emergency
Important: The vaccination status of all CNS staff is verified per the state vaccine mandate.
Procurement Reviews
Procurement Reviews are required by USDA to ensure Child Nutrition Program operators follow proper purchasing procedures. Procurement Reviews will be conducted every four years for all CACFP program operators. Procurement Reviews are offsite and may be in a different year from Administrative Reviews.
Organizations will be notified in upcoming months of Procurement Reviews for FY22. Please expect an email from a member of the Child Nutrition Services Procurement Team; Barbara Krogstad or Stacie Boyd, if you are selected for a review this year. Some organizations may have already received a notification on December 1, 2021.
Procurement Review Questions? Please email the CNS Procurement Team.
Administrative Review Questions? Please contact your CACFP Specialist.
When meal service occurs onsite, it is expected that onsite monitoring also occurs 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.
Monthly claims are due by the 15th of each month following the claim period. All claims entered in WINS and in OK to Pay status will process for payment at the end of the month. Here are some important reminders about claiming in the Washington Integrated Nutrition System (WINS):
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.
- When you are experiencing issues with submitting your claim or when your claim is in error status, please contact your CACFP 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.
General Claim Reminders
- Monthly claim data must be in "OK to Pay" status by 5:00 pm PT on the 15th.
- WINS will automatically log all users out of the system on the 15th of each month at 5pm PT.
- Ensure to give yourself enough time to input all claiming data so the claim is in “OK to Pay” status.
- Once WINS closes down the claiming option users are not allowed to input claim data until after the monthly claim reconciliation process is complete. This can take up to two business days.
- Didn't submit your claim by the 15th? That's okay! File your monthly claim by the 60-day deadline.
- Example: The September 60-day claim deadline is November 29, 2021.
- Claim reimbursements that are not entered into WINS or not in OK to pay status will NOT process for payment by the end of the month.
- The 20-21 Claim Processing Dates Information Sheet takes weekends and holidays into consideration for the 60-day deadlines. You may want to print or bookmark this information.
- Refer to the Claims Reference Sheet for details on what to do if you don't submit your claims by the 60-day claim deadline.
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Administrative Expenses
Sponsors may elect to use CACFP reimbursement to cover administrative expenses in their Food Service Budgets this fiscal year. Please review our 11/8 Entering Administrative Expenses article.
- Errors must be resolved for claims to be paid. WINS has multiple edit checks to help resolve issues before your claim is submitted.
- 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.
- Pro-Tip: Always select “Preview Errors” at the bottom of each site claim once information is entered.
Claiming Resources
Have Questions? Please contact your CACFP Specialist.
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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Washington WIC gives families access to nutritious food and provides health screening, risk assessment, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health and social services. The program provides essential services for pregnant people, new and breastfeeding people, infants, and children under five. Most pregnant people and young children on Medicaid or Basic Food (SNAP) qualify for WIC services.
To meet the needs of families during the pandemic there have been important changes to the program:
- WIC enrolls new applicants, provides nutrition education and breastfeeding support, and issues food benefits by phone or video chat.
- WIC expanded the choice of foods allowed for purchase using WIC benefits.
- Participants now shop for WIC foods using a WIC card, which makes shopping easier.
- The WICShopper app guides shoppers, and provides recipes and parenting tips!
Given layoffs and other economic consequences related to COVID-19, people may be seeking WIC services for the first time.
What Can You Do to Help?
Help the families you serve by sharing information about the benefits of WIC. The Department of Health has a great handout you can share (see image) that is available in 14 languages. You can order it from myPRINT.wa.gov so you can offer them to families.
Find WIC Services in Your Area
Resource: WIC, Healthy Food and A Lot More!
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USDA’s Team Nutrition is proud to release the Meal Components web quiz!
Team Nutrition recently released several 10-question nutrition quizzes can be used at trainings as a fun learning activity. Upon completion, quiz takers receive a score along with a link to resources that can help expand their knowledge on the topic and build their nutrition skills. Quiz takers can also view a printable version of the questions and answers upon quiz completion.
View the Meal Components web quiz on the Team Nutrition webpage.
Additional quizzes are coming this fall and winter!
Questions? Please email Team Nutrition.
The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) is the only federally funded national center dedicated to applied research, education and training, and technical assistance for child nutrition programs.
Civil Rights Training in English and Spanish!
CACFP sponsors are required to provide Civil Rights staff training at least annually. The ICN created a free e-learning training that reviews Civil Rights requirements and how customer service plays a role in nondiscrimination.
Staff must create a free account through the ICN iLearn platform to access the training.
Access the ICN Civil Rights Training in English
Access the ICN Civil Rights Training in Spanish
Questions? Visit the iLearn How-To Guide for additional information!
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December 15
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November Claim Due in WINS!
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December 27
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No Weekly CNS Newsletter
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December 30
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October 60-day Claiming Deadline - if you haven't already, submit your claim
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January 3, 2022
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No Weekly CNS Newsletter
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