USDA Updates
 

Block Claiming
A block claim is a claim with no variation in meal counts for any single meal type or combination of meal types for any continuous 15 day period within the claim month.  For example, if for 15 consecutive days you had the same number of breakfasts, same number of lunches, and same number of snacks, etc. without any difference in number, this would be considered a block claim.  If it determined that a provider is block claiming, we are required by the USDA to do an unannounced visit with the provider.

September 2003

Infant Reimbursement
Family Child Care Providers are required to offer one formula to parents of infants in their care.  All iron-fortified infant formulas served to infants are reimbursable, regardless of who provides it.  If a parent prefers a different type of formula than what a provider offers, then the parent will provide the formula and the provider will still be reimbursed, even if it is the only component required at the meal.  An infant participation form needs to be completed by the parent and turned into the SENDCAA office. (See June 2003 update).  An enrollment form is also required for each infant.

August 2003

Serving chicken nuggets
There are many varieties of chicken nuggets available on the market today that make it hard to determine the amount of meat in the product.

Providers will need to look on the package of chicken nuggets for a CN (Child Nutrition) label.  A CN label looks like this: 

Products at Sam’s Club that have CN labels are: Tyson Chicken Nuggets, and Tyson Dyno Nuggets.  Food Services of America also has a CN labeled product; Tyson Chicken Breast Chunks.  These products along with Schwan’s chicken products count for the meat without serving an additional meat/meat alternate.

Providers’ will need to send a copy of the CN label or a Schwan’s package label to the SENDCAA office to be kept on file.  Once the label has been sent you will not need to send them to us again unless you change products.  Please indicate as CN or Schwan’s Chicken Nuggets when recording on your menus.

If there isn’t a CN label the provider will need to serve and record another meat/meat alternate such as peanut butter, cheese, yogurt, etc. to meet portion requirements for reimbursement.

June 2003

Providing Infant Meals
USDA has changed their policy regarding infant participation in the CACFP.  The policy clarifies that family child care home participating in the CACFP must offer program meals to all eligible children who are enrolled for care in their home, including infants.  A family child care home may not avoid this obligation by stating that the infants are not "enrolled" in the CACFP, or by citing cost barriers to offering an infant a meal.  As long as the infant is in care during the meal service period, the family child care home must offer the infant a meal that complies with meal pattern requirements.  As with all children in the CACFP an infant's parent or guardian may decline what is offered, and supply the infant's meals instead.  The key factor is that the infant must be provided access to the CACFP meals.

Reimbursable meals for infants may contain either breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula, or both, supplied by the care giver or by the parent.  However, to receive reimbursement, the caregiver must always offer the infant a complete, developmentally appropriate meal.  Because we are recognizing the labor involved in serving meals to infants, the meal must be served and fed to the infant by the caregiver.  Every parent of an infant enrolled in your child care will need to sign an Infant Participation Form, not just parents supplying formula/breast milk.  These forms are available at the SENDCAA office.

April 2003 

New USDA Temporary Rule:
Because of recent military deployments, USDA has implemented a temporary rule.  If a child is to be left in the home of a child care provider (if the child lives in a single parent household) or both of the child's parents have been deployed by the military, the daycare provider will be able to claim that child even though the child is now residential.  In order to qualify, the provider must have been given legal power of attorney or custody of the child or have been contractually allowed by the military to provide residential care for the child. 

Additionally deployed service members may be counted as a member of the household, even though they are living apart from the family on a temporary basis, when establishing a family's eligibility for Tier I reimbursement.

SEPTEMBER 2002

It is a USDA regulation that child care providers must notify their sponsor in advance whenever they are planning to be away from their home during meal/snack service times, in which they will be claiming the meals.  If advance notification was not made to the sponsor and a home visit is attempted during a scheduled meal/snack visit and the meals are claimed, the meals must be deducted.