OSPI CNS would like to thank all of our 2022 SFSP sponsors!
Because of your dedication, the children across Washington have had access to healthy meals throughout the summer months. This year was a big transition year for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) with returning back to normal SFSP requirements, while also dealing with supply chain issues and staffing shortages. In addition, OSPI continued administrative reviews since our 2021 gap year. Since things likely looked quite a bit different from the past two summers, we want to hear from you!
Save the date for the SFSP Wrap-up Meeting on Monday, September 19, from 2–3 pm PT. Registration will open soon!
During the webinar we will facilitate a discussion regarding the operation of SFSP in the future, and invite sponsors to share their experiences with the Summer Food Service Program this year.
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals team or call 360-725-6200.
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Are your meals appetizing, appealing, and nutritious? The USDA wants to recognize you!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Turnip the Beet award recognizes outstanding summer meal program sponsors across the country who work to offer high quality meals to children that are appetizing, appealing, and nutritious.
Applications must be submitted to OSPI by October 7, 2022.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nominees must be a SFSP or Seamless Summer Option (SSO) sponsor in good standing.
- Must have operated SFSP or SSO during Summer 2022.
- Menus must feature appetizing, appealing, and nutritious meals that meet meal pattern requirements.
- Additional menu criteria include the following. Sponsors earn up to two (2) points for each criteria met, and up to one (1) point for bonus questions.
- Meals are prepared to be age-appropriate for the population being served.
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Bonus: Meals are culturally appropriate for the needs of the community served.
- Feedback is collected from children about meals served.
- Children are encouraged to eat healthy foods.
- Nutrition-based activities are offered at summer sites.
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Bonus: Team Nutrition resources are used at summer sites.
- Service of locally grown foods at least one (1) time per week, per meal type.
- Menu includes one (1) hot food item per week, per meal type.
- Entrees repeat two times or less per month, per meal type.
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Bonus: Entrée types (i.e. sandwiches, pasta dishes, breaded poultry dishes) are repeated two (2) times or less per week, per meal type.
- At least four (4) different vegetables and/or fruits are served throughout the week, per meal type.
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Bonus: At least one (1) serving each of dark green vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans and peas (legumes), starchy vegetables, and other vegetables is served per week.
- The majority of vegetables and fruits are fresh.
- Juice is limited to two (2) times or less per meal type, per week.
- At least 50% grains are whole grain-rich.
- Sweet Grains are limited to two (2) times or less per meal type, per week.
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Bonus: Sweet grains are not served.
- Only low-fat or non-fat milk is offered to children aged 2 and older. If one-year-old children attend the summer site, they are served whole milk.
- Availability of Water at no cost.
Application Information
Submit your nomination form & menu to the Summer Meals inbox.
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 moved away from the DUNS Number as its official entity identifier and toward the new Unique Entity ID (UEI), which will be generated in SAM.gov.
What You Need to Do
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 the Sam.gov website to register for a new account and request your UEI.
Each entity must get a UEI through SAM.gov.
If you are in the validation process now and have submitted a validation service ticket through SAM.gov, you must log into SAM.gov to receive correspondence for that ticket. If you have been contacted in SAM.gov about an open ticket, a follow-up must be received from you within 5 days, or the ticket will be closed.
Details
The validation process is a critical piece of the federal awards ecosystem. It prevents improper payments, procurement fraud, and helps ensure the integrity of government contracts and grants processes, representing trillions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year.
This Entity Validation Service independently verifies the uniqueness of an entity. SAM.gov verifies that there is no existing registration for the legal business name and physical address as part of this validation process.
Informational Webinar
General Services Administration (GSA) hosted a Discussion on the new Entity Validation Process in SAM.gov on August 3, 2022. This webinar covered the various steps of the entity validation process, reviewed requirements for documentation, and addressed the most common user questions. This session focused on assisting entities that have begun the registration process or are currently renewing their registration.
You can now download the presentation slide deck and view a recording of the program.
GSA will be holding additional sessions in the near future specifically for entities that are planning to update their SAM.gov registration or submit a new registration in the coming weeks or months. These training sessions will cover the entity validation process phase of SAM.gov registration.
Please visit fsd.gov for resources on upcoming trainings on validating your Entity.
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals Team.
The USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is recently shared the Transitioning to Standard Operations in the Child Nutrition Programs and the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022: Follow-Up Questions and Answers related to summer 2022 operations.
On July 7, 2022 the FNS hosted a webinar with national allies to discuss the child nutrition program operations for summer 2022. Questions and answers are regarding the nationwide waiver flexibilities issued through the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022.
Access the Recorded Webinar Here
Additional resources for Child Nutrition Flexibilities for Summer 2022 and School Year 2022-23 are located on the USDA School Year 2022–23 webpage.
As a reminder, all SFSP sites must have adequate staff and space for congregate feeding.
If your sites are facing challenges keeping participants on site, the Non-Congregate Feeding Waiver is available for additional flexibility this summer. Please email the summer meals team to request a link to the Meal Distribution Plan to request this waiver. Congregate feeding requirements must still be communicated to all participants.
Sponsors, who contract with Food Service Management Companies (FSMCs), must maintain signature authority over reimbursement claims in WINS. FSMC employees may prepare the claims and provide supporting data but sponsor staff must review, approve, and submit the claims for reimbursement in WINS per 7 CFR 210.16(a)(5).
Questions? Please email Jeff Booth, Audit and Financial Manager or Hydie Kidd, Fiscal Supervisor.
As a reminder, open sites must be accessible to the community and have signage where the meal service is located. There must not be any barriers preventing all children from receiving meals offered at the site. If safety is a concern, please reach out to the Summer Meals Team to explore options. Banners, feather flags and sandwich boards are a great way to grab the attention of the public. Make sure the signage is out the entire time of the meal service!
Tools to Promote Your Sites
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Promo Kit- If you ordered an SFSP Promo Kit this year, materials should already be delivered to the sponsoring organization—Make sure to distribute materials to your 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.
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Banner: Use this banner to promote your site throughout the summer months.
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Stickers: Stickers can encourage participants to come to your site and try new foods!
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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.
- USDA Resources
- Families can call 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479)
- For Spanish, families can call 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273)
- Summer Meals Locator- Promote this tool in English or Spanish.
- USDA National Hunger Hotline- can be reached Monday–Friday
- No Kid Hungry Resources
- Texting Line - Families may text "Food" or "Comida" to 304-304 to find free summer meals near them.
- Meal Site Locator - Promote the NKH Meal Site Finder.
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.
Questions? Please email the Summer Meals Team.
| August 29 |
June 60-day Claiming Deadline - if you haven't already, submit your claim |
| September 15 |
August Claims Due in WINS - Make sure to adjust your ADA's before submitting your claim! |
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