COVID-19 impact on the food program

School closures 

Now that virtual school has started for most children, many providers are now supervising children's online learning in addition to all their other duties. For claiming on the Food Program, keep in mind the following: 

1. Notify us of changes in meal serving times. Your monitor can help you determine schedules or if two shifts are needed for a meal. 
2. For new children and for renewals, school information must still be included in the enrollment for children, even if school is online. 
3. Due to COVID-19 and the uncertain information on school re-openings, the documentation that there is "No School" for children has been entered in the system until November 30, 2020. At that time, we will update providers on the "no school" documentation requirement.

Missing milk or whole grain

The USDA has issued a waiver for disruptions to the availability of food products. We will be able to reimburse meals that are served missing the required milk or whole grain requirement until April 30, 2020, or until the expiration of the public health emergency.  

This is what providers need to know: 

• For your March 2020 claim, we can reimburse meals served and recorded without the required milk or the required whole grain. There is nothing else you need to do for your March meals. 
• Beginning April 1, 2020, meals served without the required milk will need to be recorded using the milk code "No Required Milk Available--COVID" (For bubbles, use #1). Please make any effort you can to serve complete meals, but you may use this code when serving the "wrong" milk, like 2% or whole, or when serving another milk or no milk at the meal. 
• Beginning April 1, 2020, providers must document any day a whole-grain item was not served due to foods being unavailable in the Menu Comments for a meal. At one of the meals entered for the day, please write "No WG item available today" in the Menu Comments box, found at the bottom of the page when entering any meal (for bubble providers, write it on the CIF form for each date where no WG item was served). 

If you are closed 

Please call in and let us know that you are closed/have no kids in care. If you simply stop entering meals, we cannot assume you are closed due to COVID-19. The state is asking us to track closely providers who have closed due to this public health emergency. 

Dropping off forms 

To protect the health and safety of all staff and clients, we prefer that all documents be MAILED to our Baldwin Park office. If you prefer to drop off documents, please place them in the dropbox as we have implemented social distancing by closing our lobby. Our Pasadena office is temporarily closed. 

 13100 Brooks Drive, Ste. 100, Baldwin Park, CA 91706 

More Information

Please continue to check your email and messages — we will keep you informed as the CDE issues more information. Over the next few days, we will issue guidance to providers on parent pick-up meals.

Please stay tuned for more information. 

Thank you

In accordance with the COVID-19 Child Nutrition Response Act, USDA has issued various waivers which Child Care Food Program providers can utilize to ensure children in our communities are receiving nutritious meals. The following waivers are in effect:

• Waiver #1 allows meal service time flexibility in the Child Nutrition Program (CNP),
• Waiver #2 allows non-congregate feeding in the CNP, and
• Waiver #5 allows parents/guardians to pick up meals for children.

Similar to the school district's lunch programs, USDA is allowing day care home providers to prepare and pack multiple meals for parents to pick up. Options for Learning will allow providers to prepare and pack meals. This will allow providers to claim the meals which are picked up by parents while practicing social distancing.

In order to utilize the above-mentioned waivers, providers must do the following to prepare and pack said meals:

1. Inform Options for Learning of the intent to provide meals for children to be picked up by parent/guardians.
2. To avoid waste, provider should contact parents to inquire if parent plans to pick up meals for multiple days.
3. Providers must ensure all required meal components are prepared and make every effort to serve complete meals. However, we are able to reimburse meals that are served missing the required milk or whole grain requirement until April 30, 2020, (USDA Waiver #4) if the provider documents these meal pattern exceptions as described in the April 1, 2020, notice to providers.
4. Prepare and pack two main meals and one snack or two snacks and one main meal per day per child. Meals must be prepared and packed using proper food preparation safety measures. Meals claimed/packed must remain under the license capacity. 
5. In order for Options for Learning to reimbursement parent picked up meals, providers must document in the menu comment box “Parent Pick up Meals” or “PPM.”
6. For verification and documentation purposes, provider must submit a Provider Verification of Parent/Guardian Meal Pick up Form per child. The form must be submitted to Options for Learning on a monthly basis.

Note: All claims and forms must be submitted to Options for Learning by the 5th of the month; there are no changes to monthly due dates.

This waiver provides meals for eligible children to be picked up by parents is extended through June 30, 2020, or until the expiration of federally declared public health emergency, whichever is earlier.

Yes, you can still do PPM, and you don’t need to have children in care if you closed due to COVID-19; just call or email us. You can also claim meals for kids in your care and PPM meals for kids who stay home. But you can only claim for enrolled children. If a parent wants to pick up meals for a new child, you will need to enroll the child on the Food Program first, like all other children who participate. You cannot claim meals over your licensed capacity.

2. Can I claim meals if I deliver them? Does the parent/guardian have to be the one picking up meals?

The USDA waiver applies only to meals that are picked up, not delivered. And yes, the parents or guardians must pick up the creditable meals.

3. What if I prepare the meals, but parents don’t pick them up?

If you prepare meals but they are not picked up, you cannot claim those meals.

If you are only claiming parent pick-up meals, you cannot claim your own children because daycare children are not in your care. You can claim your own children if there is at least one daycare child having that meal in care, same as before.

5. Can I prepare PPMs for multiple days (two to three days at a time)?

Yes! The USDA waiver allows providers to prepare meals for multiple days. However, you must ensure that meals are prepared and packed using proper food preparation safety measures. For example, you can prepare breakfast, morning snack, and lunch for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for parents to pick up on Monday morning. You will have to record the meals parents picked up on each separate day: Record Monday meals on Monday, Tuesday meals on Tuesday, and so on.

Yes, prepare and claim complete meals including the required milk. Please make any effort you can to serve complete meals, but if you are affected by food shortages due to COVID-19, use milk code #1 (see notice sent out on April 1st on “Claiming Meals During COVID-19”).

8. Can I claim infant PPM meals?

Yes, prepare the food/formula components you normally provide the infant. However, meals that are only parent-supplied items (like breastmilk only, or parent formula only) are not reimbursable for PPM. If any infant’s formula/food choices have changed, that child's enrollment will need to be updated, same as before.

Yes, you must write in “Parent pick-up meals” or “PPM” in the COMMENT box at the bottom of the page when entering parent picked up meals in KidKare (only appears after you’ve checked in a child). For scan providers, you must document the dates you provided PPMs on the monthly CIF form.

MAKE COPIES AS NEEDED. Use one per child, per month. Fill out the total number of meals by type that were picked up for each week (put in the dates), and make sure you sign as well as the parent. The deadline is the same as all other claim documents: the 5th day of the following month.