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OSPI Child Nutrition Services is joining the National CACFP Sponsors Association for National CACFP Week. This annual campaign is designed to raise awareness of how the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program works to combat hunger and bring healthy foods to the table for participants of child care centers, adult day services and day care homes across the country.
Here is a sample of what CACFP means to Washington State Sponsors, the children served and their families:
“Making sure children have a healthy breakfast to start their day is so important for their growth, physically and mentally. You have to feed the body to feed the mind! Some families have a little bit harder time with healthy meal service, I am glad their children have healthy meals at school to help supplement. - College Child and Family Studies Program
“CACFP is a valuable resource for our childcare centers! Participating in this program provides our staff and families with continued support in providing nutritious meals and serving our community.” – Kids Country
“Creating menus and preparing food for the youth/teens in the Squaxin Island Community is one of the many things we love about our jobs. We strive to introduce new fruits, vegetables and whole grain items. We love taking some of their favorite entrees and creating a recipe to make it a healthy option!” – Squaxin Island Tribe
“The CACFP is love. I've seen children leave food on their plate to "take home to their mother" so they might be able to eat tonight.”
“The CACFP is providing what many families may be struggling to do, especially during these tough times. The emotional "thank you", from a single father as he carries away a week's worth of food for his kids, knowing they won't go hungry. The look of gratitude in a mother's eyes as we fill her trunk with food bank boxes of pasta, rice, beans, canned goods, gallons of milk, bread, and activities for the kids. Or the smile on my many staff's and volunteers faces as they return from making home deliveries to hundreds of kids each week, knowing that they're doing something amazing and special. The level of effort that has gone into our work, nationwide, during this pandemic has been unprecedented, but I can honestly say that if we had to start all over and tomorrow was March 1st, 2020, I'd be proud to stand amongst my team knowing; not only will we get through it, but we'll come out of it better people.” – EOCF
Join us on Wednesday for the CACFP Excellence Award Event. We want to recognize you and all that you do!
Excellence award recipients will be acknowledged by State Agency staff during a virtual recognition event and presented with a certificate of excellence.
Register for the CACFP Excellence Award Recognition Event
Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Time: 2pm PT
National CACFP Association (NCA) Finalists Announced
The National CACFP Association (NCA) has announced the CACFP Inspire Awards Finalists. With over 500 nominations nationwide NCA has chosen Nutrition Staff from Education Opportunities for Children and Families in Southwest, Washington as a finalist for the Collaboration Award. The winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at the National Child Nutrition Conference.
Congrats Education Opportunities for Children and Families!
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released SP 04-2022, CACFP 04-2022: Question and Answer Guidance on the Final Rule Child Nutrition Programs: Transitional Standards for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Effective July 1, 2022. This guidance is intended to be transitional and in effect for school years (SY) 2022–23 and 2023–24.
USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) plans to share a new rule for long-term meal pattern requirements to be effective starting in SY 2024–25. In case of a delay, this updated guidance will remain effective until subsequent standards are shared through rulemaking. This QA memorandum rescinds and replaces SP 37-2019, CACFP 16-2019, Questions and Answers on the Final Rule Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements, dated September 23, 2019.
Share Your Thoughts
USDA is inviting comments on this final rule to provide insight as we work towards developing permanent, science-based meal standards for the long-term.
The Final Rule is available for public comment until March 24, 2022. Submit your comments here.
Resources
The Washington Department of Health (DOH) recently released updated guidance on Requirements and Guidance to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission in K-12 Schools, Child Care, Early Learning, Youth Development, and Day Camp Programs. As Washington K-12 instruction enters the final months of the 2021-2022 academic year, this document outlines the remaining requirements for K-12 schools, child care, early learning, youth development, and day camp programs, along with options to consider when building a framework for controlling COVID-19 and minimizing the risk of exposure in educational and child care settings.
Summary of Changes
- Required measures
- Additional options and considerations for schools and child care providers
- Additional resources and information
- The previous K-12 Requirements for the 2021-2022 School Year and K-12 Supplemental Considerations have been merged into one document and streamlined
- Previous recommendations for child care, early learning, youth development, and day camp programs have been included in this comprehensive and aligned document
Resources
Since the late 1970's, each legal entity that received funds from the U.S. Government was required to have a unique identifier called a DUNS number. On April 4, 2022, the federal government will be moving away from the DUNS Number as its official entity identifier and toward the new Unique Entity ID (SAM), which will be generated in SAM.gov.
All Child Nutrition Sponsors should already have their DUNS number registered at SAM.gov. If you do not know your SAM ID or have never registered for one, you can go to www.sam.gov to register for a new account and request your unique SAM ID in a few minutes.
Communication from CNS
If you received a survey link from OSPI titled “Needed Fiscal Information-SAM ID”, we were not able to find your SAM ID in the database at www.sam.gov. It is important that you obtain a SAM ID and complete this survey as soon as possible. We need to add a SAM ID for all Sponsors in WINS prior to our next federal reporting deadline.
Questions? Contact your CACFP Program Specialist.
Gardens provide young children with wonderful opportunities for hands-on learning. Gardens can range from a few containers on a windowsill, to larger, outdoor gardens that produce food for your program. Children benefit in many ways from gardening, including improved social and emotional skills. Garden activities in Early Care and Education (ECE) include planting, harvesting, taste tests, cooking, and more!
CACFP funds may be used for Garden-Grown Produce & Garden Materials
Meal reimbursement funds may be used to purchase items for gardens such as seeds, fertilizer, watering cans, rakes, and more, as long as the produce grown in the garden will be used as part of the reimbursable meal and for nutrition education activities (such as taste tests).
Use the Gardens in Early Care and Education-Navigating Rules and Regulations Resource to learn more about allowable costs for Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) reimbursements, Washington Administrative Code (WAC) regulations, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines, and Child Care licensing requirements.
Questions? Contact your CACFP Program Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines have been announced for FNS child nutrition programs.
These guidelines are to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced-price meals and free milk for the period from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. These guidelines are used by schools, institutions, and facilities participating in the National School Lunch Program (and Commodity School Program), School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program.
Download a copy of the July 2022–June 2023 Income Guidelines
Do you believe in the power of good nutrition? Are you interested in assisting school districts and other institutions in providing children with healthy and nutritious meals? CNS is seeking skilled candidates for several positions. Does this sound like you? Apply to join the CNS team today!
Current Recruitments
Upcoming Recruitments
- Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Special Programs Supervisor
- Administrative Program Specialist – multiple programs
- Business Analyst
- Fiscal Specialist
- Fiscal Analyst
Team Nutrition is pleased to announce the release of the “Navigating the Food Buying Guide Calculator” English webinars captioned in Spanish.
Navigating the Food Buying Guide Calculator This webinar provides an interactive demonstration of the Food Buying Guide (FBG) Calculator, a feature included with the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs Interactive Web-based Tool. Participants learn how to create a shopping list using the FBG Calculator when ordering food for their programs. The webinar can be viewed in English and with Spanish captions on the USDA Team Nutrition Food Buying Guide webpages.
For more information about this tool and related resources visit these Team Nutrition webpages:
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