BiWeekly SFA Jan 8 2018

October 31, 2016 - SFA Edition:
New Attachment B
Basics of Block Grants
Policy
SFSP Conference
Commodities Update
Texas Farm Fresh Initiative

Attachments with this issue:
SP05-2017 - Q&A: Purchasing Goods and Services Using Coop Agreements, Agents and
3rd Party Services
SFSP In The Loop Special Edition

This information is to keep you informed of any changes in policies and procedures and of new
communication originating from the State Office this month.

New Form Coming Soon!

The web-based Attachment B located in TX-UNPS will soon be available to CEs.
When it is ready, TDA will send a notice through the ESCs and the TX-UNPS
Bulletin Board. Please be on the lookout for this notice.

Understanding The Basics of Block Grants

CN Reauthorization Legislation Under Consideration

As Congress considers Child Nutrition Reauthorization legislation, some
members of Congress are recommending the use of block grants to fund child-
nutrition programs. In a block-grant model, the federal government provides a
fixed amount of money to a state or local government for funding a program that
assists people in need. The federal government uses a formula based on
previous expenditures to determine the amount of the block grant and the
amount does not change during the grant period.

The federal government makes the block grant funds available to the state
agency overseeing the program and state leaders decide how to allocate the money to contracting
entities operating the program.

Currently, the federal government uses an entitlement model to fund child nutrition programs. This
system provides a reimbursement for each free, reduced-price, or paid meal served. If the number of
eligible participants fluctuates for any reason, federal reimbursement for each reimbursable meal
served is guaranteed. In return for the guarantee, nutrition-program operators must follow federal
regulations such as use of eligibility guidelines, nutrition guidelines for meals, and appropriate use of
federal funds.

Policy

USDA Policy Memo

SP05-2017 - Q&A: Purchasing Goods and Services Using Coop Agreements, Agents and 3rd Party
Services is attached.

Revised TDA SFSP Supplemental Handbook

ESCs - since the SFSP In The Loop is not being distributed during the fall/winter, please be
sure to distribute the CE edition of this issue to your SFSP CEs so they can stay informed.

The following revised chapters of TDA's SFSP Supplemental Handbook have been posted and
released.

Chapter 1 - Program Eligibility: The OMB Bulletin NO. 15-01 Revised Delineations of Metropolitan
Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on
Uses of the Delineations of These Areas was released July 15, 2015. This revised Bulletin has been
linked on page 11 and 12 and replaces the previous OMB Bulletin NO. 13-01 dated February 28,
2013. This revision did not change any of the rural or urban counties in Texas.

Chapter 5 - Vending Options: Requirements information has been added to the Purchasing Meals from
a FSMC subchapter. If a contracting entity chooses to contract with a Food Service Management
Company (FSMC) to provide meals to be used in the food service, they must comply with the
requirements of this subchapter.

Chapter 6 - Procurement and Bid Procedures: The entire chapter has been revised to add requirements
information about procurement and bid procedures. This chapter was previously titled Procurement and
Financial Management. The chapter title was changed to Procurement and Bid Procedures to match the
USDA SFSP Administrative Guidance for Sponsors (AGS) chapter title. Procurement is the orderly
process of acquiring, by lease or purchase, goods and services such as food, meals equipment,
bookkeeping, and auditing.

Chapter 8 - Program Integrity: The entire chapter has been revised to add requirements information
about the serious deficiency process. If, during an organization's application for or participation in the
SFSP, the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) determines that a serious noncompliance occurred,
TDA may place the organization, responsible principal(s) and responsible individual(s) in the serious
deficiency process.

You can find the TDA SFSP Supplemental Handbook under "Summer Feeding Policy & Handbooks"
here.

If you have any trouble accessing the TDA SFSP Supplemental Handbook, please let me know.

Revised ARM

A revised ARM Section 17, Procurement, has been released and posted. We have also posted ARM
Update Guide 2016-2017 which gives details about the revisions. We are continuing to post ARM
Update Guide 2015-2016, 2014-2015, and 2013-2014 so CEs have access to revision made during
those school years.

You can find the ARM; ARM Update Guide 2016-2017, 2015-2016, 2014-2015, and 2013-2014; and a
complete searchable ARM here.

Please replace any previous versions of ARM Section 17 that you may have saved.

Revised Onsite Monitoring Forms

The following onsite monitoring forms have been revised or newly created:

* Onsite Monitoring Form | National School Lunch Program (NSLP) - Revised
* Onsite Monitoring Form | School Breakfast Program (SBP) - New
* Onsite Monitoring Form | Seamless Summer Option (SSO) - Revised
* Onsite Monitoring Form | Afterschool Care Program (ASCP) - Revised
* Onsite Monitoring Form | Provision 2 (P2), Year 2 and Following Years - Revised
* Onsite Monitoring Form | Community Eligibility Program (CEP) - Revised

The onsite monitoring forms can be accessed here in the School Nutrition Programs Forms table.

Updated CACFP Meal Pattern in Schools

For SY 2017-2018, CEs must use the Child and Adult Care Food Program: Meal Pattern Revision
Related to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (released April 25, 2016). This will impact CEs
that offer Pre-K, Head Start or Early Education.

A side-by-side comparison of the old and new meal patterns can be found here.

Save the Date!

SFSP Conference Coming in February

SFSP Conference will take place Feb 15-17 at the Omni Southpark in Austin. This year we will have
an ISD track and many other opportunities to learn, network and get inspired.

Registration coming soon!

Commodities Update

Check Your 2017 Weekly Commodity Bulletin for New TLS

Recently, TDA adjusted the TLS (Total Lunches Served) to reflect last school year's [SY 2015-2016]
final meal counts for NSLP + SSO (National School Lunch Program + Seamless Summer Option).
TDA also redistributed additional entitlement the State recently received for SY 2016-2017, adjusted the
per-pound pricing for the weighted average of all Further Processing items and adjusted the per case
price for the weighted average for the first season of Farm to School watermelons. These adjustments
resulted in an overall impact to entitlement values for the current program year.

ACTION REQUIRED:
Please check your 2017 Weekly Commodity Bulletin Report to review the beginning entitlement value,
the processing reserved-used value, and the entitlement remaining value.
Path: Reports>Weekly Commodity Bulletin>Select Program Year: 2016-2017>Create a Report.

Path: To review the new TLS and history of allocations (per pound and per case): Contacting

Entities>Contract>Contract Entitlement>Display Entitlement>Click on the value under the Entitlement
Distribution column to display the Entitlement Distribution History-NSLP. Click on the value under the
Entitlement Used column to display the Entitlement Usage-NSLP for up to date activity.

Further Processing - For all Further Processing questions, please contact your Processing Co-op
Coordinator for opportunities to increase pounds within third round processing surveys.

Surplus Regular, USDA Foods - Positive Entitlement remaining values can also be used to select on-
going surplus offerings through your TDA Contracted Warehouse and instantly use unspent entitlement.

Additional Requests Regular, USDA Foods - Annual Surveys will be on a re-opened status for selected
USDA Foods items, as applicable, for incoming delivery options up through the end of April-2017.

Farm to School Program - If participating in Farm to School Program, the survey is re-opened to allow
increased requests to coincide with your delivery/route schedule. (Requests on or after the week of
November 7, 2016).

Texas Farm Fresh Initiative

NEW! USDA Farm to School Grant Funding: Special Texas Conference Call

Join Southwest Regional Farm to School lead Rachel Spencer Tuesday, Nov.
10th at 2:00 pm for an overview of USDA Farm to School Grants. This
conference call will be interactive, and is exclusively for Texas schools or
organizations interested in applying. There will be ample time for questions, so
please come prepared to ask any specific questions you may have.

Conference Line: 888-844-9904
Passcode: 8565414#

As a reminder, USDA Farm to School Grants are dues December 8th and more info can be found on
the USDA's website here or by contacting [email protected].

NEW! School Food Support Initiative Funding Available

The Chef Ann Foundation has opened availability of grant funding for the program with the goal of
providing up to 7 school districts with technical assistance, strategic planning, and funding
opportunities to improve operations. More details about program services and eligibility criteria, as well
as a link to the online application on the School Food Support Initiative Web page here. To support the
grant application process, The Chef Ann Foundation is hosting an informational webinar on Wednesday,
Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. Central. This is an opportunity to learn about how the program works and the impact it's
currently having in school districts.

The application deadline is Nov. 30th.

National School Lunch Week & Local Products Challenge Survey

TDA invites you to participate in a survey to help us evaluate the success of the recent outreach
campaign for National School Lunch Week and the Local Products Challenge. Information gathered in
this survey will be used to guide program staff in developing the resources most helpful to Texas child
nutrition staff. This survey will take less than 20 minutes to complete. Please complete the survey by
Friday, Nov. 18, 2016.

Go here to take the survey now.

MENU Module Update

Me - N - U are launching MeNU! We are excited by the statewide "buzz" around MeNU Module and
the far reaching positive impact it will have. Imagine the hours saved not having to manually calculate
nutritional information!

We interviewed Barbie Dickinson from Hondo ISD after launching breakfast production in MeNU Module
to better understand her motivation and, learn best practices for launching. Interview questions and her
answers are below.

Q1. Why did you decide to participate in the pilot of MeNU Module?
Jackie Cantu asked me to. Jackie said she knew a "straight shooter" and that I would provide
good feedback.

Q2. What were your expectations going into the project?
No expectations. Knew what I wanted the end result to be: To help this project be successful
for all districts.

Q3. What are the top three things you have learned since beginning to implement? (not necessarily
about the software...could be a process, or communication, or leadership, etc...)

1. Being organized is necessary
2. Easier to look up all the ingredients first and write down the numbers, and then turn into
recipes, menu items, etc...
3. Directors need an easier way to be able to overwrite and have back access. Can't correct it
if a Site Manager makes an entry on the wrong site without a long process.

Q4. What have you learned about yourself through this process?
I am definitely more organized than I thought I was and, I have a great team!

Q5. What have you learned about the people who are implementing at the site level?
They are willing to do whatever is necessary to make this a successful program.

Q6. If you could do one thing differently, what would it be?
To have met my goal to be fully implemented by August 2016.

Q7. What else would you share with other CE's considering launching MeNU Module?
That it takes some effort on the front side. But you and your team will like the end result. Don't
be afraid to ask someone to share something with you.

***Please note: TDA is taking Barbie's recommendation of "being organized" to heart. Within the
training, several tools and cheat sheets are being created to support organization and create efficiency.

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