On June 24, 2022, Congress passed The Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022 and moved the bill on to be signed by the president. We are anxiously awaiting details from USDA and will provide an update as soon as we have more information.
It's important to communicate with families as we transition back to normal SFSP operational requirements. We understand this may be challenging, as families have been able to grab meals and leave the past two summers. Two major changes from operations during the pandemic include:
- Requiring of all meals to be consumed on site.
- Parents or guardians no longer able to pick up meals for their children.
Best Practices
- If a child asks for additional meals for siblings/friends who are not present, remind them you must be able to see the child who is receiving the meal.
- Put up clear signage reminding participants meals must be eaten on site.
- Set up a visible perimeter, such as cones, and make a rule that meals cannot be taken past the established perimeter.
- Provide enrichment activities that entice participants to stay: bubble blowers, coloring sheets, books, other types of entertainment – get creative!
Resources
OSPI has the following resources to assist with this transition, which can be found on our SFSP Requirements and Materials page! We encourage sponsors to print up these resources and provide them to sites.
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals inbox.
Now that the application deadline has passed and some of you have started operating, there are some reminders we want to share!
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Claiming
Keep an eye on your participation to make sure you can adjust your ADA in WINS prior to submitting your claim. Remember, sponsors who use a FSMC/Vendor must adjust ADAs before the claim goes into error status.
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Meal Service
- Any changes to mealtimes and/or service days must be approved by OSPI. Maintaining continuous communication with site staff is essential to ensuring all changes are reported in a timely manner.
- Make sure each meal service takes place within the approved WINS mealtime.
- If any of your sites are going on a field trip, please be sure to submit a Field Trip Notification no later than the day before the field trip.
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Food Safety is Everyone's Responsibility!
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Staff Changes
- All site supervisors, staff and volunteers must be trained before they assist with SFSP operations. If you have a new staff supervisor or staff member who is not listed in WINS, please update your site application(s) as soon as possible!
- Staff must be trained on topics based on their role in the SFSP. OSPI CNS created several short, topic-based SFSP trainings available in Moodle that sponsors can incorporate into staff trainings. There are several different training topics such as Monitoring, Menu Planning, Offer Vs. Serve, Point of Service Meal Counting, and more!
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals team.
This spring, OSPI CNS shared the updated state-wide promotional materials for the SFSP. As part of the kickoff, each sponsor was able to order a promotion kit for their sites at no cost!
How to use the Promotional Materials
Within the next couple weeks, materials will be delivered to the sponsoring organization so they may distribute materials to their sites.
Sites should post materials in locations that will attract attention to their sites, as well as high-traffic areas where potential participants may see the information.
Kit Contents:
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Survey Flyer: This year CNS is going to be collecting information on how parents heard about summer meal sites. Post this flyer in a visible location during the week of July 25–29, 2022! We will collect this information directly from parents during the week of July 25–29, 2022. Parents can scan the QR code with their phone or visit the URL listed on the flyer to answer a few questions and register for a chance to win a $50 gift card courtesy of United Way of King County. Each kit includes one (1) survey flyer.
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Banner: Use this banner to promote your site throughout the summer months. Each kit includes one (1) banner.
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Stickers: Stickers can encourage participants to come to your site and try new foods! Each kit included 1,000 stickers.
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Bookmarks: Learning does not stop during the summer months! Inspire participants to read and spread the word with these double-sided bookmarks. Each kit included 500 bookmarks.
Additional materials were provided based on availability.
Need More Materials?
We encourage you to use a printer of your choice to have additional items produced. You can use the images and graphics on the SFSP Resources webpage at no charge to you.
- Marketing Materials
- Social Media Content
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals Team.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released CACFP 09-2022 SFSP 05-2022: Questions and Answers Related to CACFP 11-2021, SFSP 07- 2021 Collection of Race and Ethnicity Data by Visual Observation and Identification in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program – Policy Rescission.
This memo provides clarification on questions related to the Collection of Race and Ethnicity Data by Visual Observation. As of May 17, 2021, visual observation and identification was no longer an allowable practice for CACFP operators, SFSP operators, or State agencies to use during the collection of racial or ethnic data (per CACFP 11-2021, SFSP 07-2021).
Race and Ethnicity Data Collection
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) requires all Child Nutrition Program (CNP) operators to collect Race and Ethnic Data at the site level at least once per program year. This helps to determine how effectively FNS programs are reaching potential eligible persons and beneficiaries. This data may be used to identify areas where additional outreach is needed, determine any barriers to access, and assess the institution’s and sponsor’s compliance.
Program operators should use methods that are based on self-identification and self-reporting. A best practice for this would be obtaining the information from parents or guardians or adult participants. Please review the full memo for more details on data collection methods.
Providing meals to participants must not be contingent upon families providing their racial and ethnic data.
Grace Period Granted
FNS recognizes that it will take some time to develop methods and gather data from alternative sources. As a result, there will be a grace period to develop these methods through December 31, 2022. During the grace period, program operators will not receive a finding of non-compliance during reviews. By January 1, 2023, program operators must have alternative means to capture the data.
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals team.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released updated Civil Rights Division (CRD) policy memos.
Important Updates
These memos clarify prohibitions against discrimination based on sex in all USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs and related implementing regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.
What this means: Child Nutrition Program operators and sponsors must not discriminate or deny access to programs based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Next Steps
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Effective Immediately: If not currently part of your organizational practices, update program discrimination complaint processing procedures to include complaints alleging sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.
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Effective Immediately: Process any complaints alleging sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination as complaints of prohibited sex discrimination. There will not be a grace period for accepting and processing discrimination complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity in FNS programs.
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Before August 3, 2022: Update webpages and documents with the updated USDA Child Nutrition Programs Nondiscrimination Statement.
- The nondiscrimination statement is required on all documents referring to program access, program approval, and widely distributed documents. Examples include: items distributed to the public, landing page of web pages, student handbooks, brochures, letters to families, or press releases.
- Child Nutrition Program operators and sponsors are required to take reasonable steps to ensure program access and benefits to individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
- The USDA is currently working to translate the updated nondiscrimination statement into additional languages. Please do not translate the nondiscrimination statement at this time.
- OSPI CNS will update documents previously translated with the updated nondiscrimination statement. Please keep an eye out for future CNS Updates.
Additional Details
- OSPI CNS is ordering updated And Justice for All Posters and will be distributing them over the coming months. Until you receive the updated posters, please continue using the 2019 And Justice for All poster.
- We understand many program operators and sponsors are preparing materials for the upcoming program year.
- If your organization has already printed materials that include the previous nondiscrimination statement, you are not required to re-print documents.
- If your organization has not printed materials, please use the updated versions as they become available on the OSPI CNS webpages.
- OSPI CNS will be updating reference sheets, materials, and webpages in the coming weeks.
Questions? Please email the Child Nutrition inbox so we may assist.
| July 15 |
June Claims Due in WINS - Make sure to adjust your ADA's before submitting your claim! |
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