Welcome Back to a New Year!
While it's only January, it's already time for us to start thinking about Summer Meals, and what better way than a kickoff event?
The last couple years have brought us lots of changes in our programs. To help stay in touch, we invite you to join us for a short webinar next month. During this webinar, we will introduce staff, discuss training, and provide information regarding 2022 SFSP plans.
Register for the 2022 SFSP Kickoff Webinar
Date: Tuesday, February 22
Time: 3:30–4:00 pm PT
Interested in Sponsoring the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)?
OSPI Child Nutrition Services is currently seeking sponsors for the 2022 USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). The SFSP helps ensure children and teens living in low-income areas continue to receive nutritious meals during the summer, or during emergency school closures, when they do not have access to school meals.
Information about the program is outlined in a recent OSPI Medium Article, we highly encourage those who are interested to review the article and email our Summer Meals Team with any questions.
Who Can Sponsor the SFSP?
Public and private nonprofit schools, residential and non-residential summer camps, private nonprofit organizations, tribal organizations, and units of local, county, municipal, and state government, as well as colleges and universities participating in the Upward Bound Program who are willing to operate a non-profit meal program in areas where at least 50% of the children are qualified for free or reduced-price school meals are eligible to sponsor the program.
Resources
Thanks for all you do to serve children in our state!
Questions? Please email our Summer Meals Team.
Summer 2022 is Quickly Approaching!
Applications to operate the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) for Summer 2022 will be opening at the beginning of April, and that means it is time to plan for annual training!
More information on application requirements will be released in the coming weeks. At this time, there has been no indication the USDA is going to extend any nationwide waivers that were available for SFSP operators in 2020 and 2021, therefore, training will be focused on regular SFSP requirements. Please read below for the summer 2022 training requirements.
All Sponsors
All lead program administrators from organizations planning to operate the SFSP in 2022 must watch the Civil Rights* and Procurement* recorded trainings annually, prior to program application submission.
New Sponsor/New Lead Administrator In-Person Training
This training will take an in-depth look at how to operate the SFSP.
Who Must Attend?
Lead program administrators from organizations that are:
- New SFSP sponsors;
- Returning sponsors with new lead administrative staff;
- Returning sponsors who did not operate SFSP in 2021; OR
- Returning sponsors required to attend as part of their corrective action plan.
In Person Training Dates (registration will be released soon):
Before attending the in-person portion of this training, lead program administrators must watch the Intro to SFSP recorded training.
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March 1 | 9am – 4pm, Renton
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March 10 | 9am – 4pm, Bremerton
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March 24 | 9am – 4pm, Spokane
Online Training Option for Returning Sponsors
Returning sponsors who do not meet the above criteria may watch a recorded training instead of attending the in-person training. This training will be available on the OSPI CNS website and additional information will be shared in upcoming SFSP Newsletters.
If you are unsure what training you are required to attend, please reach out to our Summer Meals Team.
Additional Requirements
Sponsors who are new to the SFSP, or did not participate in summer 2021 must be assessed for Viability, Capability and Accountability (VCA) prior to applying for the SFSP as a sponsor. Please note: Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are exempt from completing the VCA process.
To prevent the duplication of services, the area which a new site proposes to serve, must not be served in whole or in part by another site, unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of OSPI that each site will serve children not served by another site in the same area for the same meal 7 CFR 225.6(d).
Please use the USDA SFSP Capacity Builder to see if other sites operate in the same location as your proposed site. Priority is given to returning SFSP sponsors and/or sites.
Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS Program Specialist or email the Summer Meals Team.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) reimbursement rates for 2022.
Rates are effective for the time period of January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. Review the rates on the CNS Claims and Fiscal webpage, under the SFSP dropdown.
Questions? Please contact your program specialist.
The National Child Nutrition Conference will be offered virtually as well as onsite in New Orleans, Louisiana, from April 18–22, 2022.
This conference is a five-day professional education event offering over 75 hours of presentations, featuring topics including:
- Nutrition
- Program operations
- Administration and financial management of CACFP and SFSP
- Resources and technology
- Train-the-trainer sessions
- Management solutions
Register for the event, read about the 2022 speakers, workshops, preconference deep-dive sessions and learning institutes on the NCA 2022 National Child Nutrition Conference webpage.
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February 22
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2022 SFSP Kickoff Webinar | 3:30–4:00 pm PT
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March 1
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SFSP Annual Training | Renton, WA
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March 10
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SFSP Annual Training | Bremerton, WA
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March 24
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SFSP Annual Training | Spokane, WA
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