Meal Claim Edit Checks and Block Claims

This Management Bulletin (MB) clarifies requirements for Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) sponsoring agencies performing an edit check of each sponsored facility’s meal claim before filing their monthly reimbursement claim. These requirements apply only to sponsors of child care centers, adult day care centers, day care home providers, or any combination thereof. These requirements have been in effect since October 1, 2005.

Background

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) was signed into law by President Obama on December 13, 2010. Section 331 of the HHFKA amends Section 17(d)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from requiring CACFP agencies to perform edit checks to detect block claims or unannounced follow-up reviews related to block claims.

Although CACFP sponsoring agencies are not required to perform an edit check to detect block claims or unannounced follow-up reviews related to block claims, these agencies must still perform the following two required edit checks prior to submitting each monthly reimbursement claim: 

• Agencies must verify that the facility is approved to serve the meals that it claims. In California, the California Department of Social Services preapproves CACFP agencies to serve and claim all meal types—breakfast, lunch, snack, and supper. This preapproval, however, is contingent upon the agency meeting the requirement of not claiming more than two meals and one snack or two snacks and one major meal per child or adult per day (the “two plus one” limit). CACFP sponsoring agencies must ensure that each facility under their sponsorship claims only the meals approved on their site application and that the claim is within the “two plus one” limit.
  
  
• Agencies must determine the accuracy of the claim by comparing the number of enrolled participants multiplied by the number of operating days to ensure that the total number of meals claimed by the facility is equal to or less than this amount.

Note: For enrollment requirements for child care centers and homes, please see the CACFP Administrative Manual.

These enrollment requirements do not apply to outside school hours centers, at-risk afterschool centers, emergency shelters, and adult day care centers. As a result, exempt centers must use numbers other than enrollment (such as licensed capacity) in their edit claim process.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding this MB, please contact your CACFP Specialist. A contact list of CACFP Specialists is available on the Child and Adult Food Care Program Contact List or in the Download Forms section of the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System as Form ID CACFP 01. You can also contact CACFP Office Technician by email at CACFPinfo@dss.ca.gov to be directed you to your CACFP Specialist.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Esta institución es un proveedor que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades.