|
Thank you for submitting CACFP Excellence Award nominations. We recognize all of your efforts to serve nutritious foods to children everyday in creative and delicious ways. In Washington State CACFP Sponsors serve 122 million meals to children and adults everyday, and your hard work does not go unnoticed
The 2022 CACFP Excellence Award Recipients Are:
- Ty Watta & Eddie Griffin- Pierce College
- Kaisa Seymour- Squaxin Island Tribe
- Billie Trimbo & Michelle Volk- Clark College
Award recipients were acknowledged by the State Agency staff during a recognition event last week and presented with a certificate of excellence. Thank you to all who attended!
National CACFP Association (NCA) Finalists Announced from Southwest WA
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!
|
As part of National Nutrition Month®, we are excited to announce that many of the professional and consumer resources for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 are now available in Spanish. We invite you to check out these new resources on DietaryGuidelines.gov.
Thank you for the important work that you do every day to improve the health of Americans by encouraging healthy food and beverage choices in communities where you live and work.
Site staff must be trained annually on CACFP Requirements. Training must include instruction appropriate to the level of staff experience and duties, on specific Program topics. It is required that Sponsors must retain all training documentation to include the date of training, topics covered, training material(s) used, and participant attendance (with printed name and signature).
Required CACFP Training Topics Include:
- CACFP Meal Patterns
- Meal Counts
- Claims Submission and Review Procedures
- Recordkeeping Requirements
- Reimbursement Process
- Civil Rights
Do You Have New Site Staff?
Sponsors must train all new staff on CACFP Program duties soon after they are hired. If you have new staff in key CACFP roles (ex. Program Director or cook), please notify your CACFP Specialist. Your Specialist will work with you to assign training as appropriate for your new staff members specific to the CACFP component(s) that you operate.
Resources
Questions? Contact your CACFP Program Specialist.
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
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
What is a Grain-Based Dessert? Do you know if your organization is serving grain-based desserts?
USDA's Team Nutrition initiative released the Grain-Based Desserts in the CACFP Handout to help plan menus without grain-based desserts. As a reminder, not only are grain-based desserts not creditable but added sugar makes them a less healthy choice.
This handout features:
- A chart to help you identify grain-based desserts
- Still Too Sweet? Alternatives to sweet toppings.
- A Try It Out! Worksheet to help you think about what you are serving on your menus.
This tool is also available in English and Spanish!
|
How a food is cooked can make a difference in how healthy it is.
The Methods for Healthy Cooking handout is a great tool to keep in your kitchens! This handout:
- Explains different types of reimbursable methods for healthy cooking,
- Shares a chart on which foods may be served as a part of a CACFP reimbursable meal,
- Includes a Try It Out! Section with some yummy recipes, and;
- Is available in English and Spanish!
As always, you can order Team Nutrition Materials at no cost to you by visiting the Team Nutrition Ordering Platform!
|
|
