Transcript CACFP Documentation Connecting the Dots, Building the Blocks

CACFP Documentation
Connecting the Dots,
Building the Blocks
AMANDA TUCKER, BS, CHES
REGION 9 ESC – TEXAS
[email protected]
Class Purpose
Attendees will be able to connect the dots
between required CACFP operational and
administrative documentation including
enrollment, eligibility, meal counts, meal
production records, claims reporting, financials,
and budgeting. Then turn these dots into building
blocks for a successful CACFP program through
enhanced information flow, policies and
procedures, and organization.
Class Objectives
By the end of this class, participants will be able to:

Identify required documentation for CACFP

Identify required operational policies and procedures
for CACFP

Identify required administrative policies and procedures
for CACFP

Identify resources for CACFP management
Part 1:
Introduction
FUNDAMENTALS OF CACFP
BUILDING BLOCKS OF CACFP
MANAGEMENT PLAN
VCA
CE’s responsibilities for CACFP:

To follow the CACFP regulations

To maintain complete and accurate records

To report accurate records and submit accurate claims
to our State Agency.
Building Blocks of CACFP
Management Plan

When is the last time you reviewed your management plan?

What has changed since then?


Staff turnover?
Expansion or decrease in participation or site numbers?

Operational changes such as feeding style?
CACFP Management plan key terms:

“financial system”

“management control”

“steps to ensure compliance”
What is required to maintain VCA?????
VCA

VCA stands for Financial Viability, Administrative Capability and Program
Accountability. VCA is the yard stick with which a state agency and USDA
measure a center’s capability of operating their program.
Part 2: Required
Documentation
General Guidelines

Legibility Counts – i’s & t’s

No blanks. No red flags.

Use non-eraseable ink, never pencil.

Never scratch out - draw a line through, initial, and date.

Take ownership. Date and initial or sign your work.

Always more, never less

Document the weird stuff.

How is it being used and it’s final destination.

Know the due date and abide by it.
Required Documentation
•
Enrollment
•
Licenses
•
Master Roster
•
Additional Documentation
•
Income Eligibility

CACFP Application
•
Meal Count

Management Plan
•
Attendance Records

Budget
•
Meal Productions

Amendments through the year
•
Claims

Financials
•
Training
•
Monitoring
Part 3: Policies
and Procedures
OPERATIONAL &
ADMINISTRATIVE
FINANCIALS
Name a policy you have in place
you hope to NEVER use???
Policies & Procedures
Think back to our previous discussion about VCA. Your state agency
and USDA have some clear, defined policies, and then some
general guidance.
It is then up to each individual CE to take these policies and
guidance, internalize them, and apply them to their own program.
This self application is how you as a CE show your state agency that
you are viable, capable and accountable to use federal dollars to
operate your CACFP program.
Policies & Procedures, Cont.
With any of the next topics we are about to discuss two questions can always be asked:

Is there an adequate system in place to cover whatever is being asked?

Does it work?
So how do these two questions apply to me as a CE?

When a center is evaluated, your state agency looks for compliance with the
standards they set, but also looks to see how you as an administrator develop your
own policies and abide by them. Your adequacy is based off of your center’s
enrollment and staffing and what works best for your center.
Policies & Procedures, Cont.
For example, “Is there a system in place to ensure that all of a center’s children are
properly enrolled annually?”
Yes or no?

This is where having a policy and procedure for everything you do comes into place.
Does the system that is in place work?


If the answer was no, where was the break down?

Was enrollment not completed on all students?

If there was a form for all students, was there missing elements?
If either of these questions are answered NO, then a reviewer may ask you to complete
a corrective action plan to ensure compliance. Frequently it will be requested that your
center “develop and implement a written procedure”. You as a CE are encouraged to
review your current policies and procedures, and systems to determine if they work.
Policies & Procedures, Cont.
Follow up question:

If we have a system in place, why does it not work? Do we need more
training? Does this task just not match the skill set of the person that it is
assigned to?

Keep these things in mind as we discuss what a policy and procedure are,
and what we need to succeed in CACFP.
Why and what’s the difference?
Why do I need policies and procedures? Everyone already knows what they
need to do.

Policies and procedures are needed to ensure compliance, but more
importantly, they are needed to ensure everyone is on the same page
and doing the same thing, every time.
Is there a difference between a policy and a procedure?

A policy is what your stance is on a topic, or what you are going to do
about it and when. Where as, a procedure is the action you take to
ensure compliance with that policy you wrote.
What does a good policy look like?
What does a good policy look like?

USDA, State Agency Manuals, CCL, Headstart, etc.

Your own policy manual = your voice saying here is what the guidance is
and here is how we are going to do it.

A good policy answers Who, What, When, Where, Why & How.

Several versions of one policy?

Reference to the governing policy it originated from

Date it was drafted and any revision dates.
How strict should a policy be?

USDA, State Agencies, and You.



Can be more strict, but never lenient, barring you are not contradicting any
additional guidance.
How long should my policies be?

Skirt rule length: long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it
interesting.

Effective quality over quantity

Never copy a policy from someone else or from an agency directly.
In addition, a policy may include an actual procedure.
What does a good procedure look like?


A procedure should be a step by step guide on how to complete a task
at hand.

It should give a level of guidance that a newly hired person can complete the
task.

A procedure may include additional forms, such as complaint forms.
Now, let’s review what policies and procedures are required by USDA.
Management Plan strikes again!

How will claims be processed accurately and in a timely manner

How will meals provided meet the required meal pattern

How are civil rights requirements met

How will complete and accurate records be kept for the following:

Enrollment

Attendance

Free and Reduced Price Eligibility

Meal Preparation

Meal Counts and Claims

How is it ensured that claims are submitted only for eligible meals

Training Policies for new staff and current staff

Site license, exemption or other documentation remain valid before claims are paid
each month.
Operational Policies and Procedures
To recap, all of the previously discussed required documentation needs
operational procedures to coincide with it. Therefore, a CE should have
policies for the following:

Enrollment Procedures

Eligibility Processing

Meal Counts and Point of Service

Attendance

Meal Production Records

Claiming and End of Month Procedures

Training

Monitoring
Operational Policy example:
Remember to include your who, what, when, where, why & how in developing your own
policies. Enrollment example:

All new enrollment paperwork will be received by the assistant director and processed by the
director within 24 hours. Child will be added to Daily Meal Count Record and Roster once
proper enrollment has been completed. Annually, all currently enrolled children will complete
a new enrollment record during the month of September. New enrollment forms will be
distributed Sept 1 and due Sept 15. All corrections and updates to enrollment will be
completed by September 30th. All enrollments will be checked by the Assistant Director and
finalized by the Director. All original enrollment files will be kept, filed in each child’s individual
folder, with a copy of all enrollment sheets in a master enrollment folder. Enrollment records
will be kept according to Record Retention Policy.
Administrative Policies & Procedures

Organizational Chart:

Positions (with preferably names)

Functions for all current employees

Board members & officers

Consultants involved in any aspect of the CACFP.

Compensation Policy – for positions paid in whole or part with food service funds

Job Descriptions

Outside employment policy (sponsors only)
Financial Policies & Procedures

Procurement Policy:

Less than Arm’s length transaction

Conflict of Interest

Financial Tracking and Management Systems

Monthly Reconciliation
Management Plan - Financials

Fiscal Integrity and accountability for all program funds and property
received, held and disbursed

Integrity and accountability of all authorized program expenses incurred

Claims will be processed accurately and in a timely manner

Funds and property are properly safeguarded and used

Safeguards and controls are in place to prevent and detect improper
financial activities by employees.
Financial Tracking Procedures

Who collects money?

Who is allowed to spend money and how much?

Who has control of it and who shouldn’t?

What do you do with receipts?

Who reconciles expenses and income?

How often?

Where are these documents stored? Backups?

How does money and information flow in your
organization?

Payroll?
Expenses vs Reimbursement
2 separate and distinct conversations:

Your expenses are your expense.

If you spend more than your reimbursement, you will
not be given more money to cover these costs.

You will only be given reimbursement based on your
monthly claims.
Documentation to Support Claims
 Operating
 Administrative
 Claims
 Financial
Procedures
 Financial Statements
Reconciliation
Reconcile your
 Bank
Statement
 Claim & Reimbursement
 Receipts
 Credit Card Statements
 Ledger Accounts
 Bookkeeping Records
 BUDGET
Compensation Plan

Who?



Positions paid in whole or part with food service funds
What?

Rate of Pay

Hours of work; including breaks & meals

Compensation

Overtime

Holiday pay

Benefits

Frequency of pay
Why?

Account for compensation charged back to CACFP
Procurement Policy

Make purchases

Advertise items planned to purchase

Select and evaluate various bids or proposals

Evaluate potential contractors

What you purchase, how you purchase it,
every time.
CCC 7200
Record Keeping

Copy, Mark, File, Repeat

Highlight those receipts and statements!

To scan or not to scan?
 Paper
 Back
copies – a way of the past
up for scans and computers?
Record Retention

Follow your State Agency’s guidance.

Other agencies, such as Child Care Licensing or Head
Start may request you retain this documentation longer
that your state agency.

Abide by the longest retention policy.
Complaint, Grievance, & Civil Rights

CE’s with 15 or more employees are required to have a Grievance
Policy.

All CE’s are required to have a Complaint Procedure.

But, what is the difference between a complaint, a grievance, and
a civil rights complaint, if any?
Part 4:
Conclusion
WHERE DO WE GO FROM
HERE?
KEYS TO REMEMBER
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is success?
Where do we go from here?

Take it step by step.

Evaluate your existing management plan, policies and procedures.

Evaluate your program.

Reflect on your last Administrative Review, and Corrective Actions

What stresses you or your staff out about your program?

Make a detailed Action Item (to do) list with due dates to it.

Have a written procedure for everything you or your staff do.

Have a back up for everyone and everything.

Evaluate, modify, and update, and train, train, TRAIN.
Keys to Remember

Do it the same way every time. No shortcuts.

Accuracy = transparency.

Be proud of your center, your program and your paperwork.

Celebrate your accomplishments

learn from your strengths,

enhance upon your opportunities for improvement,

accelerate your center to the next level.
Questions & Answers
Amanda Tucker, BS, CHES
Region 9 ESC – Wichita Falls, TX
[email protected]
References

FNS 796-2 Rev 4

State Agency CCC Handbooks

USDA Handbook – Independent Center

USDA Handbook – Management Plans