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FY24 CACFP week is March 10–16! To celebrate, OSPI is joining the National CACFP Sponsors Association (NCA) for its annual national education and information campaign. This 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 childcare centers, adult day services and day care homes across the country.
CACFP Week Highlights
Please view the CACFP Week 2024 Canvas Module to:
- View FY24 CACFP Excellence Award recipients
- See what CACFP means to you and other Sponsors in our state
- Watch the recorded Advisory Council Panel Discussion
- Enjoy an OSPI created video spotlighting CACFP Sponsors in WA!
Additionally, we are ending the week with an in-person culinary training in Ellensburg on March 16!
Thank you for all that you do to provide healthy meals and snacks to participants everyday! We appreciate all of your efforts and commitment to operating the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The CACFP Advisory Council is made up of 10 Sponsors that operate various components of CACFP throughout the state. The council helps bring Washington state CACFP concerns to OSPI and assists in driving changes to better our Program.
There are currently two Institution vacancies on the council. We are looking for non-profit institutions, independent Sponsors (Sponsors with one site), military and tribal representation. If selected, commitment to the council would run through December of 2025. The advisory Council meets for an hour every other month.
If your institution is interested in joining the CACFP Advisory Council, please email CACFP@K12.wa.us.
New Menu Templates!
OSPI Child Care and Adult Care menu templates have been posted to our website. During FY24 Annual Updates training it was announced that OSPI would make menu templates available for Sponsor use. While these templates are optional to use in FY24, all Sponsors will be required to use these templates during FY25.
These templates were created to help decrease costly menu related findings during administrative reviews (ARs). They list milk fat % based on age group served, display the nondiscrimination statement, provide space to enter the date, and display the serving size of each required component per age group, all of which were common findings.
Download the menu template appropriate for your program and meal service(s) you provide today!
 Multi-Site Sponsors Resources
A new dropdown has been added for Multi-Site Sponsors in the CACFP Requirements and Materials section of our website. This will be the hub for Sponsors of multiple sites to find monitoring forms and resources specific to Sponsoring Organization requirements.
Monitor Assigned CAP Procedure-New!
Sponsors of multiple sites are required to conduct monitoring visits three times per fiscal year at all sponsored sites. If a site is found out of compliance, a procedure may need to be created or updated to correct the finding. Use the Monitor Assigned CAP Procedure template to assist staff in updating or creating a procedure to permanently correct findings.
Multi-Site Sponsor Administrative Requirements Reference Sheet-New!
Sponsors must demonstrate compliance with the CACFP Performance Standards 7 CFR 226.6(b)(1)(xviii) for Financial Viability, Administrative Capability, and Program Accountability (VCA) on an ongoing basis. This reference sheet provides a list of the administrative duties and responsibilities that Sponsoring Organization must manage and incorporate into their management plan to help stay on track!
The USDA recently released the Supporting the Use of Traditional Indigenous Foods in the Child Nutrition Programs Cooperative Agreement on Grants.gov, which will award $2 million in total grant funding to up to four organizations. The purpose of this funding is:
- To provide regionally focused training and technical assistance for nutrition professionals in schools serving tribal communities.
- To increase procurement, preparation, and crediting of traditional Indigenous foods in schools serving tribal communities.
- To ensure that nutrition education is provided to accompany the traditional Indigenous foods that are included in meals.
Applicants must be led and staffed primarily by members of Federally Recognized Tribes and/or Native Hawaiians.
The grant funds may be used to support the use of traditional Indigenous foods in the Summer Food Service Program.
Additional Information:
- Deadline to submit proposals has been extended to April 8, 2024.
- Grant applications must be submitted through grants.gov.
Check out these new Team Nutrition (TN) resources to assist in planning breakfast & snack menus and conducting family style meal service!
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It’s Breakfast Time! Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Breakfast Menu Planner English and Spanish.
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Let’s Make a Snack! Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Snack Menu Planner English and Spanish .
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Family Style Meal Service With Children in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
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An Operator Booklet: includes information on how to help prepare and support children, train staff, and meet CACFP meal pattern requirements to successfully serve meals “family style” in the CACFP.
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Classroom Posters: discussion tools teachers can use in their classrooms to introduce the steps of family style meal service, rules for family style meals, and sample scripts for conversations at mealtime with children.
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Training Slides: ready-to-go presentation slides to help train staff on family style meal service in the CACFP.
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Photographs: original photographs depicting family style meal service in child care and afterschool settings to use in training materials.
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Social media graphics: three animated graphics to help spread the word about this new resource and the benefits of family style meal service.
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Parent Newsletter: “Serving Meals ‘Family Style’ .
Watch TN’s Family Style Meal Service Webinar
Date: March 20, 2024
Register here
In August, the USDA published the Child Nutrition Program Integrity Final Rule, 88 FR 57792, which establishes changes to CACFP monitoring requirements for State agencies. CACFP 05-2024 Implementation Guidance: State Agency Review Requirements provides additional information regarding the provisions related to the frequency and number of reviews for State agency monitoring of Sponsors in the CACFP.
Questions? Email CACFP@k12.wa.us
Annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced-price meals, free milk, and Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer benefits for the period of July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 are now available.
These guidelines are used by schools, institutions, and facilities participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Special Milk Program for Children, Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).
2024-25 Income Guidelines
The Child Nutrition (CN) Labeling Manual is now available online. The CN Labeling Manual provides food manufacturers with instructions on how to apply for and obtain approval for a Child Nutrition (CN) label. It also contains instructions for calculating the contribution that meats, meat alternates, poultry, and seafood products make toward the meal pattern requirements for Child Nutrition Programs (CNP). CN labels are approved by USDA and provide a way for a manufacturer to demonstrate how a processed food product contributes to the meal pattern requirements in CNP.
Access the CN Labeling Manual here https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/labeling-manual
Find other CN label-related resources at the CN Labeling Program website.
On February 21, 2024, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the Proposed Rule entitled “Serious Deficiency Process in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)”. The proposed rule can be viewed here: Federal Register Notice
The USDA is proposing important modifications to the serious deficiency process in CACFP, extending the process to CACFP unaffiliated sponsored centers, and establishing a serious deficiency process in SFSP. These changes will improve consistency in language and process among statute, regulations, and guidance for both CACFP and SFSP, improve consistency in the serious deficiency process within and across States and strengthen program integrity.
Request for Comments
Written comments must be received on or before May 21, 2024 to be considered.
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Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
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Mail: Send comments to: Navneet Kaur Sandhu, Program Integrity and Innovation Division, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314.
All written comments submitted for this proposed rule will be included in the record and will be made available to the public. Please be advised that the comments and the identity of the individuals or entities submitting the comments will be subject to public disclosure. USDA will make the written comments publicly available on the internet via https://www.regulations.gov.
Please see USDA’s Serious Deficiency Process in the CACFP and SFSP webpage for more information, including a summary chart of proposed provisions.
To support sponsors in integrating local foods into your meals, OSPI is excited to feature Harvest of the Month resource sheets. Each month we will highlight one local food that will be in season the following month. The resource sheets will include fun facts, nutritional information, selection and storage tips, recipe ideas, and educational resources.
For April, we are featuring kale, click here to check it out. You can find this, and future Harvest of the Month resource sheets on our Farm to CACFP webpage.
WSDA Farm to School Purchasing Grant: 2023–2025 Round 2 Application Open Soon!
The WSDA Farm to School Purchasing Grant is a competitive reimbursement grant available to schools, childcare centers, and summer food service programs for the purchase and use of Washington-grown foods in child nutrition programs.
Timeline:
- Round 2 Grant Period: July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025
- Application Opens: late February/early March 2024
- Application Closes: April 15, 2024 5pm
- Awards Announced: June 2024
Who Can Apply in Round 2:
- Active Program operators of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP-childcare), and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or Seamless Summer Option (SSO).
- Family Day Care Home providers may not apply individually, but they may participate through the organization that oversees them.
- Tribal schools and Tribal early learning centers.
Recipients of a 2023–25 Round 1 WSDA Purchasing Grant are not eligible to apply.
Our fiscal department will have limited staff to assist with errors on March 15. Please submit your claims early.
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