USDA issued a new plan to distribute funding for the Child and Adult Care Food Program and other federal food programs during the government shut down.  As per USDA, “States already have funding to cover CN program operations for the month of January (approximately $2.1 billion) on the basis of the last continuing resolution. This week, we will provide an additional two months’ worth of funding, consistent with the standard practice of funding these programs on a quarterly basis.” 

USDA has issued memos covering the funding:  Update on Funds Available for the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, Child Nutrition Programs:   https://www.cacfp.org/files/8715/4704/0396/CNfundsmemo.pdf

Unfortunately, Federal government workers remain unpaid.  As this shutdown continues, the family budgets of many Federal government works are stretched to the breaking point.  We hope the Federal workers are paid soon.

USDA Plans for the food programs include:
Child Nutrition Programs

• For these programs, including school meals and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, States already have funding to cover CN program operations for the month of January (approximately $2.1 billion) on the basis of the last continuing resolution.
• This week, we will provide an additional two months’ worth of funding, consistent with the standard practice of funding these programs on a quarterly basis.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

• States will need to take action to issue February benefits on or before January 20, 2019.  We will be reaching out to States to instruct them to request early issuance of SNAP benefits for February. States will have until January 20 to implement this early issuance.

Supplemental Nutrition and Safety Programs

• For WIC, FNS has identified resources to cover projected State expenditures for February.  The agency will allocate at least $248 million to State agencies this week, and we have identified an additional $350 million in unspent prior year funds to allocate at a later date.  A total of approximately $600 million in funding will be provided to WIC State agencies. We will continue to work with States to make resources available to the extent possible.

The USDA memo can be found here:
https://www.cacfp.org/files/8715/4704/0396/CNfundsmemo.pdf

Comment Today on USDA's Proposed Rule to Streamline Eligibility and Reduce Paperwork for For-Profit Centers
USDA seeks comments on the proposed rule and input to help determine further changes. This is your chance to improve and expand the reach of the new rule.
The rule can be improved by

• expanding the number of for-profit centers allowed to use the new annual eligibility;
• allowing all centers the option of using an annual blended rate;
• allowing centers to adjust the annual blended rate without penalties; and
• eliminating additional paperwork, documentation, or auditing requirements for State agencies, sponsors, and centers.

We have prepared model comment letters for you to use.
Here are the easy steps you can take to submit comments:

1. Download these model comment letters – short version; long version.
2. Follow this link to submit your comments.

Background: Follow this link to more information on the rule "Increasing Flexibility for Verification of For-Profit Center Eligibility in the Child and Adult Care Food Program." 
For additional information, contact Geri Henchy, ghenchy@frac.org or the National CACFP Forum President, Susana Reza, susanareza@elpasohumanservices.org.