FY18 Mandatory Training Unit 1

CACFP is a federally-funded program and is administered locally by the Illinois State Board of Education.  United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets the national reimbursement rates.  The current rate of reimbursement for a Tier 1 provider is: Breakfast $1.31 lunch/dinner $2.46 and snacks $0.73.  For a Tier 2 provider:   Breakfast $0.48 lunch/dinner $1.48 and snacks $0.20.

The updated Meal Pattern for Children and the Infant Meal Pattern are effective 10-1-2017.

The Permanent Agreement is a contract between a day care home provider and the CACFP sponsoring organization.

Meal/snack serving time frames may not be more than 1 hour (60 minutes) for breakfast, lunch or dinner and ½ hour (30 minutes) for snacks.

The Infant Meal Pattern is divided into two age groups:  Age birth-5 months and age 6-11 months.  The infant meal pattern details the require food components and serving size for each meal/snack for each age group.

The Meal Pattern for Children is divided into three age groups:  Age 1-2, age 3-5 and age 6-12.  The meal pattern details the required food components and serving size for each meal/snack for each age group.

The Building for the Future brochure details information about the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and must be posted in a day care home for all to see.

A CACFP participant must include the Civil Rights Statement of non-discrimination on all promotional materials produced by the day care home provider.   At a minimum, the following statement should be used:  This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

The statutes and regulations of the USDA prohibit discrimination in Child Nutrition Programs based on race, color, national origin, age, sex,  disability, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity conducted or funded by the USDA.

Meals and attendance must be recorded on a daily basis.  Menus can be recorded in KidKare, a Minute Menu™ product, or on the paper (scannble/bubble) menu form.  The provider should submit their menu by the 5^th of the following month to be processed in the first claim.

A few of the civil rights goals are:  Equal treatment for all applicants and beneficiaries, knowledge of people’s rights and responsibilities, dignity and respect for all, and to allow all families to receive CACFP and child care benefits.

CACFP guidelines allow for reimbursement of two meals and one snack OR two snacks and one meal per child per day.

A provider who participates in CACFP prepares and serves meals that meet CACFP meal patterns to enrolled children at no separate charge.

Providers must keep their records for the current fiscal year (October 1- September 30) along with three prior years.  The current fiscal year and previous year must be kept on site for review.

It is the responsibility of the day care home provider to inform a parent/guardian how to file a complaint about their day care business with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Adjudication in Washington DC.

The ICCB PROVIDER GUIDEBOOK must contain:  The site information sheet, permanent agreement, the three most current home visit review forms, current and previous year’s child enrollment forms for all children in care, mandatory training certificates and the child approval letter for household eligibility (if applicable).

To claim a provider’s own/residential/foster child(ren), a Household Eligibility Application must be submitted to and approved by ICCB, which is valid for one year.  Upon approval, the provider may claim their own/residential/foster child(ren) only when a day care child is present and being served a meal/snack.   The child approval letter must be kept in your ICCB PROVIDER GUIDEBOOK.

Every child enrolled in a day care (including own children) must have a completed Child Enrollment form on file in the Illinois Child Care Bureau office and in their ICCB PROVIDER GUIDEBOOK.  It is the provider’s choice to claim the child.

In order to receive reimbursement, the Illinois Child Care Bureau office must receive the current Child Enrollment form for each child in care, including updates, by the last day of the month in which the child will be claimed.

Each actively-claiming day care home provider will be visited by their ICCB Program Advisor no less than three times a year.   Illinois State Board of Education or USDA monitors may visit a provider during a meal service time.  If a visit is not allowed when a day care home is open for business, reimbursement will be disallowed from the date of the attempted visit back to the first day of the month.