USDA CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM sponsored by: Umatilla Morrow Head Start, Inc. serving Umatilla, Morrow, Grant, Gilliam and Wheeler Counties GENERAL INFORMATION PACKET Background. Umatilla Morrow Head Start, Inc. (UMCHS) is the local sponsor of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). At the state level, Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is the administrative agency in charge of monitoring and dispersing funds to Child and Adult Care Food Program sponsors. The primary goal of the Child and Adult Care Food Program is to improve the health and diet of children in a child care setting by (a) assuring that well-balanced nutritious meals are served to children (b) helping children learn to eat a wide variety of food as part of a balanced diet, and (c) helping children develop good eating habits that will last throughout their lives. This federally funded program reimburses child care providers for part of the cost of foods they serve to children in registered family child care homes, certified family homes or DHS Listed homes. CACFP ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT CHILD CARE PROVIDER C First, a child care provider must have a current registration/license from Child Care Division (CCD), State Employment Office, or be Listed with Department of Human Services Self Sufficiency Program to be eligible to participate in the USDA/CACFP. As registration/license is renewed a copy must be sent to the USDA C Second, a provider must sign up with the local sponsor of the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program. A representative from the sponsoring organization will visit your home. During the visit, the representative will explain the rules and requirements and complete the registration forms requirements. You will also enter into an agreement with the sponsor (UMCHS) detailing the obligations and rights of all parties involved. Family child care provider must agree to provide meals that meet the minimum nutritional requirement prescribed by law and maintain full and accurate program records. You may sign up with only one sponsor. CHILDREN under the age of thirteen are eligible to participate in the Food Program. When a child reaches their 13th birthday, they are no longer eligible. Some exceptions may exist for older migrant or disabled persons in care. C The meals served to all children for whom you provide child care are eligible for reimbursement once you have the parent fill out, sign, and submit an Enrollment Form. C Provider’s own children, children for whom the provider has legal guardianship, or children for whom the provider has a letter from a state agency authorizing the provider to act on behalf of the child, may be claimed in the food program if: a. The provider is income eligible. b. Provider’s children are residents of the household and qualify as provider’s own. c. At least one other enrolled non-resident child is also present and being claimed for that meal. REQUIRED RECORD KEEPING 1. ENROLLMENT FORM 2. DAILY WRITTEN MENU of meals and snacks served at each meal service. A. REGULAR MENU ( 1 through age 12) B. INFANT MENU (0 through 11 months) 3. DAILY ATTENDANCE AND MEAL COUNT FORM 4. TERMINATION FORM 5. WEEKEND/HOLIDAY FORM ENROLLMENT FORM. All children enrolled in your program, must have an Enrollment form completed and signed by the parent or guardian, even if you only had the child for a day or two. Enrollment forms must be renewed annually. C When parents fill out the Enrollment forms, the arrival and departure times must reflect the actual time the child will be in your care, not just the parent’s work schedule. C Parents must indicate what meals they authorize a provider to serve their child. C Parents must sign and date the form. Meals can not be claimed prior to the date on the Enrollment form. C If your child care family moves, has a new address, phone number, working schedule or name changed, the parent must complete a new enrollment form or meals will be disallowed . This new form must be on file in the main office at the time the claim is processed. C Reminder: it is your responsibility to ensure the form is complete and all information is accurate. C When Enrollment forms are received in the Main Office, staff will review the forms for accuracy. Any form that is incomplete or inaccurate will be returned to the parent. A feedback letter will be sent to you indicating the Enrollment form has been returned and the number of meals that will be disallowed for that month. C Infant Feeding Benefit Notification and Acknowledgement form. All children, including infants, must be enrolled in the CACFP program. Providers may not avoid this obligation by stating that the child is not “enrolled” in the CACFP, or by citing a logistical or cost barrier to offering a meal. Infants (children six weeks to one year) must have on file with the sponsor an Infant Feeding Benefit Notification and Acknowledgement form, in addition to the regular Enrollment form. REGULAR MENUS (1 through age 12). Meals served must meet the minimum meal pattern set by the USDA. BREAKFAST LUNCH/DINNER SNACK (requires 3 components) ( requires 5 components) (requires 2 components, any Bread/Cereal Meat/Meat Alternate combination) Fruit/Vegetable/Fruit Juice Bread/Cereal Meat/Meat Alternate Milk-fluid milk only Fruit/Vegetable, 2 servings Bread/Cereal Milk-fluid milk only Fruit/Vegetable/Fruit Juice Milk-fluid milk only Things to Keep in Mind When Planning Your Menus C FLUID MILK is a required component for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. C Only “FULL STRENGTH” OR 100% JUICE counts — drinks with “cocktail” in the label are not creditable. Some labels are indeed misleading! Just take a closer look at the labels on what you buy. Drinks like lemonade, Kool-Aid, fruit punch, fruit nectar are not creditable. C At SNACK, juice may not be claimed as one of the components of a snack when milk is the only other component served. C SPECIFY the kind of cereal and juice served on your Menu form. C BREAD/BREAD ALTERNATE/CEREALS. Enriched flour, whole wheat flour or the grain itself (rice, corn, oats...) must be the first ingredient listed in the packaging of bread/bread alternate and cereals to be 2 creditable. Products containing bran or germ are credited at the same level as items made from enriched or whole grain meal or flour. C SMALL AMOUNTS (less than 1/8 cup) of VEGETABLES AND FRUITS used as garnishes, may not be counted toward the vegetable/fruit requirement like a piece of lettuce or a slice of tomato in a sandwich. C YOGURT is a creditable meat/ meat alternate for main meals as well as snacks. Yogurt may be used to meet all or part of the meat/meat alternate requirement. Four ounces (weight) or ½ cup (volume) of yogurt will equal a one ounce serving of meat for 1-2 years of age; 3/4 cup = 1.5 ounce serving of meat for 3-5 years old, and 1 cup = 2 ounce serving of meat for 6-12 years old. Non-commercial and/or non- standard yogurt products, such as frozen yogurt, homemade yogurt, yogurt flavored products, yogurt bars, yogurt covered fruit and/or nuts or similar products cannot be credited. C COMBINATION DISHES may be credited for only two components. This is to ensure that children have a choice when a dish is disliked. Examples of combination dishes are: spaghetti -ground beef, pasta; beef stew -beef, potatoes/carrots; tuna casserole- tuna, pasta. C BOXED MACARONI AND CHEESE may only be claimed as a bread alternate. If you add a creditable amount of cheese and indicate as “homemade” (HM) you may claim it as a meat/meat alternate and bread/bread alternate. This is also an example of a combination food. C COMMERCIALLY PREPARED COMBINATION FOODS, such as breaded chicken nuggets, fish sticks, burritos, pizza, ravioli, meat pot pies, etc., can not be credited toward meeting a meal component if the actual content (i.e. meat, bread, vegetable) is not known. Reimbursement is allowed if these items have 1) a CHILD NUTRITION (CN) LABEL; or 2) are supplemented with additional items from the same component. C RAISINS are good sources of fiber and iron, but high in sugar. The required amount to be credible is impractical. Raisins need to be served with additional fruit or vegetable to meet component requirements. C PEANUT BUTTER. The required amount at lunch and dinner is impractical. To be creditable at lunch and dinner, an additional protein must be served. C CONDENSED OR READY-TO-SERVE SOUPS FROM A CAN like clam chowder, minestrone, split pea, tomato, 1 cup serving = 1/4 cup vegetable, ½ cup serving = 1/8 cup vegetable. C CREAM OF MUSHROOM/CELERY, CANNED CHICKEN/TURKEY/BEEF NOODLE do not contain enough vegetables, noodles or meat to count as a serving! Please refer to your “Food Chart” for serving portions for the different age groups to give you an idea. C VEGETABLE OR FRUIT that contain more than one fruit or vegetable such as fruit cocktail, mixed fruit or vegetables in soups and beef stew may be credited toward only 1 serving of the 2 required components for lunch and dinner. C BEANS, canned or dry may be claimed as a serving of vegetable or meat but not both in the same meal. C HOME CANNED PRODUCTS are not creditable because of health and safety reasons. C GAME MEATS, for health and safety reasons, are not creditable in the CACFP unless they have been inspected and approved by the appropriate federal, sate, or local agency.