FY21 Mandatory Training Unit 1 – Civil Rights and Record Keeping

A CN label or a Product Formulation Statement (signed by the manufacturer) is required to be kept on record (at the day care home) to validate the components of combination food items that can be credited to the CACFP meal pattern.   Examples of combination food items include chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and pizza.

An infant between 6 months and 11 months, and developmentally ready, must be offered all of the additional components listed in the Infant Meal Pattern for every meal and snack served.

The Permanent Agreement is a contract between a day care home provider and the CACFP sponsoring organization that remains in effect during each fiscal year.  The Permanent Agreement renews at the beginning of each fiscal year (October 1), unless the providers submits a transfer letter by September 10.

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

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.

If the day care provider will be closed, on a field trip with the day care child(ren), or not at home during a meal service time, the provider must contact the ICCB office, in advance, via phone, or email.

CACFP is a federally-funded program and is administered locally by the Illinois State Board of Education.  The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets the national reimbursement rates.  The current rate of reimbursement for a Tier 1 provider is:  Breakfast $1.39 lunch/dinner $2.61 and snacks $0.78.  For a Tier 2 provider:  Breakfast $0.50 lunch/dinner $1.58 and snacks $0.21.

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

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.

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

Some of the goals of civil rights pertaining to the Child and Adult Food Program (CACFP) 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.

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 required 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.

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

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

Meals and attendance must be recorded on a daily basis.  Menus can be recorded in KidKare, a Minute Menu™ product.  The provider should submit their menus by the 5^th of the following month to be processed in the first claim.

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.

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

A provider who participates in CACFP, must complete two hours of Mandatory Training each fiscal year.