Child Nutrition Emergency Operational Costs Reimbursement Program

Exciting News!  Over the past 12 months, USDA and the state of Illinois have worked to establish the Emergency Operational Costs Reimbursement Program for day care home operators who lost food program revenue (Child & Adult Care Food Program) during the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic.  All of their work (and ours) has been completed and we are very happy to announce that funds are available to eligible day care home providers.

Day care home providers are eligible for the reimbursements if they maintained their CACFP participation by filing valid claims for any of the months of September 2020 to present OR have provided an assurance that their CACFP operations will resume by fling a valid claim no later than a month occurring within 90 days after the conclusion of the public health emergency.

The Illinois State Board of Education calculated the payments with review by the Illinois Child Care Bureau.  This one-time direct deposit payment was deposited into your account on 12.17.21 (payments by check were mailed on 12.16.21).

The Illinois State Board of Education completed the following steps:

1. 1. Reviewed files to determine if the provider was eligible for reimbursement.
   2. Analyzed your food program 2019 claims (3.16.19 – 6.30.19 vs your 2020 claims (3.16.20 – 6.30.20).
   3. Payment calculations were completed.
   4. Funds were deposited in ICCB’s account to pay providers.

Reimbursements were calculated based on statutory formula.  It allows eligible day care providers to receive:

• 55% of the difference between reimbursements from the months of April, May, and June 2020, and the same months in 2019 and
• For March 2020 calculations, the payment is half of 55% of the difference between reimbursements for March 2020 and March 2019

For more detailed information, visit:  https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/emergency-operating-costs-during-covid-19-implementation-guidance

The Illinois Child Care Bureau staff hopes that you and your loved ones are healthy and safe during this public health emergency.

• ICCB will continue to conduct a review of your food program participation by phone or by zoom until 30 days after the COVID19 pandemic ends.
• Please answer/respond to calls from your Illinois Child Care Bureau program advisor (monitor) to avoid a corrective action.
• The regulations for the Child and Adult Food Program require three reviews during each fiscal year which occur over three trimesters (Oct 1 – January 31, February 1 – May 31, and June 1 – September 30).  Typically, you will receive a review during each trimester.   Two of the reviews must be unannounced and one review may be announced.  Please respond quickly to your program advisor’s call in order to avoid a corrective action.  Your cooperation is appreciated.
• Illinois State Board of Education monitors are conducting in-person reviews.   In order to continue successfully participating in the food program, please respond.  Illinois State Board of Education monitors include John Burton, Judy Foster,  Andrea Gregory,  Paul Hansen,  Harley Hepner, Abby Johnson, Carol Montague, Kim Nesler,  Mary Newman,  Kari Perkins,  Jason Prager, Tess Smith, or Matthew Whitaker.  If you have any questions, please call us during ICCB office hours (Monday – Friday between 8:30 am – 5:00 pm).
• Grab-and-Go meals and snacks are non-congregant feeding through the food program.  If your day care home is currently closed due to the public health emergency and you are aware of children needing meals/snacks who were previously enrolled in your care, you are eligible for food program funds by serving non-congregant meals and snacks (Grab-and-Go) to them.  You need prior approval from the Illinois Child Care Bureau for reimbursement.  If you are offering Grab-and-Go meals/snacks, please contact Kim Klimek (Kim@IllinoisChildren.com) and be prepared to answer the following questions:

1. Is there a need not served by schools or other community organizations (yes or no)?
2. What is your plan for providing meals/snacks (is the parent/guardian picking up the meals/snacks)?
3. How many meals/snacks will be given to the child? Please keep in mind the child may only be served meals/snacks as stated on their enrollment form.  Depending on the child’s schedule, the day care home provider may claim a maximum of 2 main meals and 1 snack or 2 snacks and 1 main meal per child per day.
4. If you are providing meals/snacks for multiple days, then please explain your ability to prepare and store the meals/snacks (refrigeration, safe serving containers to keep food cold/hot, etc). If you are not providing meals/snacks for multiple days, then please answer:  Does not apply.
5. Please state the number and names of children being served Grab-and-Go meals and/or snacks.

Social distancing requirements must be maintained during the distribution of meals/snacks.

We appreciate your continued participation in the food program which keeps all of us employed!

Need assistance?  Please contact us by phone at 773.444.0115 or email (Info@IllinoisChildren.com, Cathy@IllinoisChildren.com, Kim@IllinoisChildren.com or Sarah@IllinoisChildren.com).

KidKare is the online claiming method for day care home providers to access Child and Adult Care Food Program funds.  KidKare is free, user-friendly, works on a Mac/PC/smartphone/iPad/tablet – anything with an internet connection.  You can use most major browsers too.

To learn how to use it, please read How to Use KidKare Guide — or view some short training videos at KidKare.com.

Need your login and password?  Call the ICCB office at 773.444.0115 or send  an email to Info@IllinoisChildren.com.

Claim Your Menus

An Illinois Child Care Bureau Program Advisor will conduct a review with you to explain all the rules and regulations of the program including how to claim your menus.  CACFP participants are required to record meals/snacks and attendance daily. Meals/snacks must meet the Infant Meal Pattern (ages birth through 11 months) and/or Meal Pattern for Children (ages 1 through 12 years).

Keeping accurate meal and attendance records is simple when claiming online through KidKare by using any device with internet connection — Smart Phone, tablet, or desktop including Android, iPhone, iPad, PC, and Mac.  On the first day of the month, review the previous month’s menus and attendance.  If the information is correct and complete, submit your food program claim online via KidKare.  Be sure to submit the claim online by the 5th day of the month to receive your payment by the end of the month.

Example:  Food program claim for September (all September menus and attendance) should be submitted to the ICCB office on October 1 or by the 5th of the month.

Temporarily lose internet access?  You must complete Daily Meal Worksheets.

Per USDA regulations, claims received 60 days past the last day of the claim month will not be reimbursed.

Reimbursement Process

In Illinois, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is administered by the Illinois State Board of Education and funded by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) for cash reimbursement to licensed and license-exempt day care home providers for serving nutritious meals and snacks to children in their care.

All sponsor organizations provide the exact same rate of reimbursement.

Effective July 1, 2021, this chart indicates the rate of reimbursement for day care home providers:

Day care home providers can qualify for Tier 1 rates based on residential school boundaries, census data, or household income. The Illinois Child Care Bureau office (ICCB) makes school and/or census determination based on information supplied by the Illinois State Board of Education as well as household income provided by the day care home provider. Eligible providers may also apply to claim residential children through age 12 by completing a Household Eligibility Application. If approved, residential children may be claimed on CACFP as long as at least one non-residential day care child is claimed for reimbursement. If a provider does not qualify based on the above criteria, Tier II rates are assigned.

Depending on the child’s schedule, a day care home provider may claim a maximum of 2 main meals and 1 snack or 2 snacks and 1 main meal per child per day.  See Claim Your Menus for information on requirements for claiming reimbursement.

The ICCB processes provider menus and submits a monthly claim for reimbursement to the Illinois State Board of Education. When funds are received electronically from the Illinois State Board of Education, the ICCB can send a direct deposit to your bank account (checking or savings). Direct deposit is safe, efficient, and it’s fast. If needed, the ICCB will write a paper check and mail it to your day care home via the US Post Office. Go green and use direct deposit!

Annual training on Civil Rights training is a program requirement.  It is the responsibility of the day care home provider to inform parents/guardians to file complaints appropriately.   If someone feels they have been treated differently and their Civil Rights have been violated, they may want to file a complaint with the US Department of Agriculture.   A day care home provider should never discourage individuals from filing a complaint and must provide the complainant with the information to do so.

Check Out These Recipes

See more recipes

About ICCB

Our Mission

Illinois Child Care Bureau (ICCB) is a non-profit sponsor organization of the Child and Adult Care Food Program and provides timely reimbursement and required training to day care home providers.

The mission of ICCB has been to provide excellent service to day care home providers. Currently, ICCB serves nearly 700 day care home providers and provided partial reimbursement for over over 3 million meals offered in FY16. ICCB staff share the vision of day care home providers – access to all children to receive nutritious meals in a healthy and active environment.

ICCB’s friendly, knowledgeable staff are available to assist providers in all CACFP areas including instructions to use online claiming via KidKare.

From the Executive Director

Day care home providers fulfill an important role to children of working parents/guardians and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is an effective means of providing nutritious meals to the children on a daily basis.

As a sponsor organization of CACFP, a federally-funded program administered by the Illinois State Board of Education, ICCB provides excellent customer service to day care home providers. ICCB staff members have a combined experience of over 50 years answering provider questions such as ‘what is the address of the ICCB office’ to ‘how do I submit my claim to ICCB online’? ICCB staff members are available to assist the provider for as long as it takes, and as often as it takes, to ensure the provider is confident they understand CACFP’s rules and regulations.

I have visited dozens of day care home providers and am grateful to each of you for the work you do. Managing the care of children requires dedication, the ability to multi-task, being able to remain calm in difficult situations and the ability to manage your own business.

ICCB is aware the provider has many choices for sponsor organizations. We believe ICCB is the best and hope you choose ICCB when you join the food program. And to those we are currently serving – we will continue to work hard on your behalf to deliver the services you need.

Contact