Nourishing News
June 7th, 2023
IMPORTANT DATES
ESC CLOSURE
Region 6 will be closed on Monday, June 19th in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.
TX-UNPS July 4th Claim Processing Schedule
Claims will not be processed for payment on Tuesday, July 4, 2023. We will resume claim processing Thursday, July 6, 2023.
CACFP UPDATES 🍕🥪🍓🥦🥛
Open Enrollment began June 1st
- Open enrollment for:
- Sites and providers that may want to sign with a different sponsor
- Sponsors to pick up new sites
- At-Risk Sponsors to pick up new sites
USDA Foods in Child Nutrition Programs
CEs participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), including At-Risk, receive cash in lieu of USDA commodities. To avoid possible double charging of Federal awards, CEs may not utilize allocated USDA Foods in the CACFP.
Credibility of Dole Wiggles Fruit Juice Gels
USDA has provided clarification that Dole Wiggles Fruit Juice Gels do not meet the definition of "gelatin" and thus may be creditable in the Child Nutrition Programs. However, because the product is labeled as being made in Thailand, school food authorities must ensure that these fruit gels are only procured if the purchase meets the limited exception criteria of the Buy American provision.
Civil Rights Training
ICN has updated its iLearn platform. Participants can now click on a banner to renew their Civil Rights training.
Revised Invitation for Bid Prototypes for SFSP and CACFP
The Invitation for Bid (IFB) prototypes for both CACFP and SFSP were updated to include full Civil Rights assurance statements from FNS Instruction 113-1. Additionally, in accordance with 7 CFR Part 225.6(l)(7), the SFSP IFBs added that either party could terminate the contract for convenience with a 60-day advance notification.
The CACFP IFB prototypes can be found here:
The SFSP IFB prototypes are located here:
SFSP UPDATES ☀️🍍🍒🥦🍅
NEW SITE APPLICATIONS
CEs must submit their completed and correct site applications (TX-UNPS and supporting documentation), with all required
supporting documentation, no later than 10 calendar days prior to the desired effective date. If the site application is submitted
with less than 10 calendar days before the desired effective date, the site application may not be approved by the desired start
date. The site application may be returned to require a start date that is further in the future to allow sufficient time for processing.
AMENDMENTS TO SITE APPLICATIONS
CEs must submit their completed and correct site application amendments (TX-UNPS and supporting documentation), with all
required supporting documentation no later than 5 calendar days prior to the desired effective date. If the site application is
submitted with less than 5 calendar days before the desired effective date, the site application may not be approved by the desired
start date. The site application may be returned to require a start date that is further in the future to allow sufficient time for
processing.
CHANGING MEAL SERVICE
Do not remove from the site application meals that are no longer served. If the site is no longer operating a particular meal service,
it should remain on the site application to allow for claiming of that meal service. For example, if the site serves lunch from June 6
to June 30, and starts serving breakfast from July 1 to August 15, the lunch should remain on the site application. The TX-UNPS
claim module must be able to reference the lunch served from June 6 to June 30 for the claim to be filed.
NEW MEALS ADDED TO EXISTING SITE APPLICATIONS
New meals are reviewed as a new site application would be reviewed. There is no backdating of approval of new meal services so the
site application MUST be submitted at least 10 calendar days prior to the desired start date of the new meal service.
ADP INCREASE REQUESTS
Amendments to the average daily participation (ADP) at a site may be backdated for approval to the prior month. However, they
MUST be submitted prior to the submission of a claim. To expedite processing of the ADP increase request, the ADP increase justification section of question 38 of the site application must be completed.
USDA Foods in Child Nutrition Programs
Any NSLP CE that uses USDA Foods in SFSP and is not a public school or a charter school is required to complete the USDA Foods Inventory form at the end of the program operation each year. This form is sent the second week in August and must be returned to TDA by September 1 of each year.]
SFSP Form Updates
TDA has released new sample First Two Weeks Site Visit and Site Review forms on the Summer Meals Administration/Forms page of SquareMeals.org.
SFSP Notification Templates
TDA has developed and released three notification templates (for camps, closed enrolled sites in eligible areas, and closed enrolled sites in non-eligible areas). These notification templates are available on the Summer Meals Administration/Forms page.
Order Now! Summer Food, Summer Moves Resources
Get Ready for Summer with these no cost, USDA printed materials:
1) Placemat (Eng/Span)
2) Poster Set (Eng/Span)
3) Resource Kit (25 students; Eng/Span)
UPCOMING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Food Plating with a Purpose-Offered by National CACFP Sponsors Association
Thursday, June 22 | 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Eastern
By introducing fun shapes and designs to a single plate or family style dish, children may be persuaded to try these new or challenging foods. Learn how you can easily construct enticing plates and receive recipe ideas to inspire new creations!
You can earn 0.5 CEUs for attending this webinar.
Register for FREE HERE
CACFP LIVE: The GOLDEN Gir...Rules of Budgets & Procurement in the CACFP
ONLINE ZOOM- Session 528761 Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 10:00am
Register HERE until 6/13/23.
Take the cheesecake out of the fridge, grab a chair on the lanai, and join our young-at-heart specialists for a session on these topics and more: Budgeting, Forecasting, and Procurement along with TX-UNPS, and the application process. By the time the session is over, your application will be GOLDEN and you'll be singing..."Thank you for being a friend."
CALENDAR OF IMPORTANT DATES
Huntsville, TX 77340
936-435-8244
This guidance is not considered all inclusive.
Please see www.squaremeals.org for further guidance.
Note: If TDA makes changes to the website, direct links in this announcement may become void.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider. This program is funded by USDA.