School Meals and Food Distribution Programs Updates for the Week of 8/29

• Update: Tips for Pandemic EBT Messaging to Families
• Update: Breakfast After the Bell—Collaborate to Overcome Challenges Webinar
• Update: Join us for a CEP Webinar
• Update: Parental Consent & 30-Day Carryover
• Reminder: Adult Meal Pricing Tool for SY 22–23
• Reminder: Direct Certification System & Potentially Enrolled Students
• FYI: NEWESD 101 Hiring Child Nutrition Cooperative Mentors – Apply Today!
• FYI: USDA Webinar—Back to School Success with Team Nutrition’s Menu Planning Tools and Resources
• FYI: ICN Procurement Strategies Webinar
• Highlight: Congratulations to the 2022–23 Farm to School Purchasing Grant Awardees!
• FDP Corner: DoD Fresh Produce Additional Funds
• FDP Corner: Help the State Make USDA Food Decisions
• Important Dates to Remember

Update: Tips for Pandemic EBT Messaging to Families

Thank you for your ongoing work around Pandemic EBT (P-EBT). We are wrapping up data collection and ask you be on the lookout for any P-EBT messages where we may need to validate your data or correct an upload. There will also be an opportunity in September to upload any additional students that were missed or applied over the summer.

Some Important Tips for Sharing P-EBT Information

1. Always use the DSHS P-EBT webpage for current information.
   • This webpage has important details regarding how families receive their benefits. 
   • We have received several questions asking when children will receive a new P-EBT card. Benefits for children who qualified for P-EBT previously will be available on their existing P-EBT cards. This card is different than normal Quest EBT cards. Newly eligible children will receive a P-EBT card shortly after they receive approval letters.
2. Encourage Families to Sign Up for Up-To-Date Information
   We encourage you to share out that families can sign up for text message alerts about the status of their child’s P-EBT by going to textpebt.dshs.wa.gov. All they have to do is fill out a simple verification form to enroll.
3. Share information out in meaningful ways to the communities you serve
   Work with partners to determine the best way to get in contact with families. This may include communications teams, McKinney-Vento, foster care liaisons, equity coordinators, language access coordinators, PTA groups, and community partners.

P-EBT Plan Information

The Children Under 6 and Summer 2022 P-EBT programs will be available as follows:

• P-EBT Children Under 6 program: Qualifying children under age 6 who live in a household that receives Basic Food benefits (the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Washington state’s Food Assistance Program) may receive $43 for each month they received Basic Food assistance from September 2021 – June 2022.
• Summer 2022 P-EBT program: Qualifying children under age 6 as well as school-aged children will receive a one-time lump sum of $391 per child to cover the summer period through July and August 2022. School-aged children enrolled in Washington state schools that operate the NSLP who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals are eligible for Summer 2022 P-EBT benefits. Children under 6 will receive benefits under this plan as long as they receive Basic Food assistance during July and August.
• These benefits are separate from a P-EBT 2021-22 School Year program, which has not been approved by USDA at this time. 

Students that were enrolled in a NSLP School last year, but did not complete a meal application may qualify by completing an application by August 31, 2022.

P-EBT Contact Center

For full details and additional questions about P-EBT benefits, families can visit dshs.wa.gov/PEBT or call the P-EBT Contact Center at 833-518-0282 between 8 am and 5 pm PT, Monday-Friday (except observed holidays). 

Update: Breakfast After the Bell—Collaborate to Overcome Challenges Webinar

Breakfast After the Bell (BAB) gives all students the opportunity to eat a nutritious meal at the beginning of the day. Many low-income students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals face barriers to participation in school breakfast programs. When all students have better access to breakfast, participation increases, eliminating some of the stigma attached to eligibility for free and reduced-price meals.

Join Us for a Webinar

Come learn about positive outcomes for students and schools as well as how to overcome common challenges with BAB! This webinar will focus on how teachers, principals, and building staff can collaborate with food services to create and sustain successful BAB programs.

There's two opportunities to attend!

Register for the Breakfast After the Bell - Collaborate to Overcome Challenges Webinar
Date: Thursday, September 1
Time: 4–5 pm PT

Register for the Breakfast After the Bell - Collaborate to Overcome Challenges (Repeat) Webinar
Date: Thursday, September 22
Time: 4–5 pm PT

 

Questions? Please email Mikhail Cherniske, Legislative Programs Specialist. 

Update: Join us for a CEP Webinar

With so many districts opting into the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), we have been working to create some new resources, including Notice of Eligibility Letters for the Family Income Survey and an updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.

Join us for a CEP Webinar!

During this webinar, we will review the yearly timeline of operating under CEP, best practices, and common questions. Additionally, we will share old and new resources.

Register for the SY 22–23 CEP Webinar
Date: Wednesday, September 28
Time: 1:30–3:00 pm PT

What Are Your Next Steps When Operating CEP?

Notify households about CEP operation and the availability of breakfast and lunch meals at no cost.

1. Ensure that an accurate meal counting system is in place that includes safeguards to prevent second meals from being counted and claimed.
2. Connect with the department in charge of distributing the Family Income Survey and share resources provided on the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and Provision 2 webpage and Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and Title I, Part A webpage.
3. Serve all students at participating school(s) breakfast and lunch at no cost for the 4-year cycle.

Resources

It's More Than the Family Income Survey Toolkit- This toolkit is designed to help districts promote the importance of families filling out the Family Income Survey each year. The information collected on these forms can help schools receive funding for important programs.

Family Income Survey- Notice of Eligibility for Reduced Fees:

• Directly Certified - Attending CEP School or District: Additional Translations Coming Soon!
• Family Income Survey: Additional Translations Coming Soon!
• An updated FAQ document is coming soon!

Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS School Meals Program Specialist.

Update: Parental Consent & 30-Day Carryover

We've recently received questions about how 30-day rollover impacts sharing eligibility information of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. 

Parental Consent

Annual parental consent is required before free or reduced-price eligibility information can be shared. This consent expires at the end of each school year. House Bill 1660 (2020) introduced new requirements around fee waivers for students eligible for free or reduced-price meals or students enrolled in the College Bound Scholarship Program.

30-Day Carryover

Eligibility carryover allows children to maintain their prior school year eligibility status for up to 30 operating days into the next school year, or until a new eligibility determination is made. However, parental consent does not carryover from the previous school year.

What You Need to Do

Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are required to disseminate free and reduced-price application information at the beginning of the school year. LEAs should include the Consent to Share form in the application packet.

Do not share eligibility information unless a new Consent to Share form is received. The current year's form applies to the current year eligibility determination via an application or through the Direct Certification or Direct Certification-Medicaid (DCM) list.

Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS School Meals Program Specialist.

Reminder: Adult Meal Pricing Tool for SY 22–23

The SY 22-23 Adult Meal Pricing Tool is now available! Adult meal prices must be set at a price sufficient to cover the overall cost of the meal, including the value of the USDA Foods used in the production of the adult meals. Federal funds, student payments, and other nonprofit food service revenues cannot be used to support the cost of the adult meals.

Please review the Adult Meal Pricing Reference Sheet for additional information

Adult Meal Pricing Formulas

• NSLP: Paid Meal Price + Value of USDA Foods + Performance-Based Reimbursement + NSLP Paid Reimbursement Rate
• CEP & Provision II: NSLP Free Reimbursement Rate + Value of USDA Foods + Performance-Based Reimbursement. 

Reimbursement rates are posted to the Claims, Fiscal Information, and Resources webpage.

Questions? Contact your OSPI CNS School Meals Program Specialist.

Reminder: Direct Certification System & Potentially Enrolled Students

The Direct Certification system for SY 22–23 opened earlier this month.

Students on the district list, confirmed near matches, and students found using the Student Search function are free and reduced-price meal eligible beginning SY 22–23. 

Direct Certification is the process of matching Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) information with student enrollment in the Comprehensive Education Data and Research System (CEDARS). This helps Local Education Agencies (LEAs) identify students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Students that are directly certified are not required to submit a meal application to their district.

Direct Certification is required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and must be conducted monthly under Washington state law. RCW 28A.235.280(3)

The direct certification list is in OSPI’s Education Data System (EDS). Locate the User Manual and other resources on the CNS webpages. 

Potentially Enrolled and Definitely Enrolled Students

At the beginning of each year, each school district will not have students identified as definitely enrolled and the definitely enrolled list will be blank. Once the district data manager for EDS uploads CEDARS enrollment, usually around October 1, the definitely enrolled list will show. 

In the meantime, local education agencies will use the potentially enrolled list to identify directly certified students. Potentially enrolled means the student may be enrolled in the school district for SY 22–23 but until district enrollment is submitted in CEDARS, it cannot be confirmed. Potentially enrolled students are directly certified for free and reduced-price meals. 

For more details, please review the Direct Certification User Manual. 

Contact Information

• For EDS access, passwords, and to have Direct Certification added to your application list within the EDS system– public school districts should contact their district data security manager. Private schools should email Liz Beechler, School Meals Program Supervisor.
• For Direct Certification system questions–Email OSPI Customer Support
• For eligibility and program questions– Contact your School Meals Program Specialist. 
• For questions regarding your meal counting system– Contact your software vendor. 

FYI: NEWESD 101 Hiring Child Nutrition Cooperative Mentors – Apply Today!

Are you passionate about ensuring high-quality, healthy school meals for Washington students? Do you enjoy helping to maximize individual and program potential? If so, Northeast Washington Educational Services District (NEWESD 101) has the dream job for you!

As part of the Team Nutrition Grant awarded to Washington state, NEWESD 101 is accepting applications for Child Nutrition Cooperative Mentors. 

Apply Today

NEWESD 101 is hiring three Child Nutrition Cooperative Mentors! This role will provide training and mentorship to school food service directors participating in the USDA Team Nutrition Training Grant-funded mentorship program in ESDs 105, 113, 123, and 171. Positions are based in Tumwater at ESD 113, Pasco at ESD 123, and Wenatchee at ESD 171.

All positions close  at 12 pm PT on Friday, September 16.

Links to position descriptions and application information:

• Team Nutrition Mentor – Tumwater, WA – Full-Time
• Team Nutrition Mentor – Pasco, WA – Full-Time
• Team Nutrition Mentor – Wenatchee, WA – Part-Time

Questions about the 2022 Team Nutrition Mentorship Grant? Please email Erica Lamson, Team Nutrition Grant Director or Abby Miller, ESD 101 contact.

FYI: USDA Webinar—Back to School Success with Team Nutrition’s Menu Planning Tools and Resources

Register for a Webinar!

The USDA is hosting Back to School Success with Team Nutrition’s Menu Planning Tools and Resources. This webinar will will highlight Team Nutrition's many tools and resources to enhance your knowledge of school menu planning and school nutrition operations. Have your mobile devices handy as USDA showcases the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) digital resources, Child Nutrition (CN) labels, Product Formulation Statement (PFS), USDA standardized recipes, USDA-approved software, and more.

Register for the Back to School Success with Team Nutrition’s Menu Planning Tools and Resources webinar
Date: Wednesday, August 31
Time: 11 am–12 pm PT

Do you need an alternative format or accessibility tools to help you participate in this event? The USDA Child Nutrition Programs would like to share that this webinar will be offered with closed captioning. Participants who require a different accessibility tool to participate in this webinar, please reach out to Sheila Kopczynski, FNS-RAC.

FYI: ICN Procurement Strategies Webinar

The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) is the only federally funded national center dedicated to applied research, education and training, and technical assistance for child nutrition programs.

Register for a Webinar

This Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition (CICN) webinar will focus on supply chain-related challenges around procurement, will include a review of current USDA assistance and waivers, and a panel discussion on tips and strategies for procurement and menu planning

Register for the Procurement Strategies for SY 2022–23 webinar
Date: Thursday, September 1
Time: 12–1 pm PT

Additional Details

• After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. 
• Registrants are eligible to receive a continuing education certificate for attending this webinar. Professional Standards Codes: 1100 – Menu Planning, 2100 – Food Production, 2400 – Purchasing/Procurement, 3200 – Program Management.
• Webinar recordings can be found on ICN’s online course platform, iLearn, one week after the live webinar. 

Highlight: Congratulations to the 2022–23 Farm to School Purchasing Grant Awardees!

The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and OSPI have teamed up once again to increase the amount of Washington-grown foods served in schools and childcare centers across the state. Thanks to funding provided by the state legislature, over $3.3 million was awarded to sponsors participating in the National School Lunch Program for the 2022–23 school year. These funds will allow sponsors to connect with their local farmers, ranchers, fishers, and processors to make nutritious, local foods available to more children and expand market opportunities for local food producers. OSPI congratulates the following sponsors who were awarded:

FDP Corner: DoD Fresh Produce Additional Funds

You will see additional funds up to the amount of $200,333.00 in your account when placing an order in FFAVORS. These funds are connected to the CCC Funds that our state received and will expire on September 30, 2022. These funds are available to all sponsors on a first come first served basis until depleted or September 30. Once the funds are gone then your orders will start drawing down from your allocation total. Questions? Please email Sarah Davis or call 360-725-6215.

FDP Corner: Help the State Make USDA Food Decisions

The USDA Foods Advisory Council serves to assist the State Agency in decisions regarding USDA Foods. Council members help provide feedback and guidance for the state agency. Apply to be a USDA Foods Advisory Council member! Questions? Please email the FDP Inbox.

Important Dates to Remember