The Nutrition Services Division (NSD) of the California Department of Education (CDE) sent out an email to their subscriber list this morning which clarified how funding from the CARES Act can be used.
You can subscribe to the Child and Adult Care Food Program Mailing List for more updates such as the one below.
Also take a look at Nutrition What's New page on the CDE website for up to date information on COVID-19, Training Policy, Management Bulletins and more.
"The USDA has instructed us that these funds can only be used for paying reimbursement claims for actual meals served to eligible children in the National School Lunch Program, Seamless Summer Option, and School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and Summer Food Service Program, and therefore cannot be used to offset revenue loss. In addition, these funds can only be used for claims during the time period March through September 2020.
The CDE NSD is committed to advocate and support your needs. We are seeking additional flexibility for the use of CARES Act funds for CNPs to ensure students continue to receive nutritious meals during this difficult time.
Please note, these funds cannot be used for Child Care Audit, Child Care Sponsor Administration, Summer Food Service State Administrative Expenses or Health Inspections.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact Mike Salazar, Staff Service Manager I, Financial Management Unit, by phone at 916-322-3287 or by email at msalazar@cde.ca.gov."
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was the first emergency funding bill that Congress passed. Part of that bill provided funding to the Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) to assist with the impact of the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
TAKE ACTION: The latest relief bill called the HEROES Act has passed the House and is now with the Senate. Tell your Senator you support this bill. It has specific language to support the entire CACFP community. To understand more about the CACFP language in this bill and how it supports you, take a listen to Geri Henchy from FRAC explain it at the Second COVID-19 & CACFP Town Hall - the explanation of the bill starts at minute 13:40.