Food Reimbursement Question For Those That Aren't On The Food Program

[MyAngels]

Wel I just registered for the program and am waiting on them to come inspect my home. But I am already a little discouraged and not sure if I want to do it already!! The lady came from the food program and sat with me going over paperwork. She informed me that we do not get paid for 3 meals .. it is eith breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner. Also she said we can only get paid for one snack. If this is the case all of my DC kids are here from 6am -6pm mostly which means they eat all 3 meals and 2 snacks.... this means it isnt worth it to be on the food program. And she stated that my child doesnt qualify to be on it and apparently only 1 of the kids out of 5 does qualify so I am sopooo lost

Just make sure you're clear on all of the rules before you start. I've never had any of my dcks not qualify for the food program, so I'm not sure what that's about. I always figured that I'm going to serve nutritious meals and snacks anyway, so I might as well get paid at least something for it. The paperwork is much easier now, too, with the online claiming option.

[MarinaVanessa]

Several issues have been raised in this thread.
First, if you are not on the Food Program you can serve food whenever you like, as long as you are not in violation of your state licensing rules. Generally, state licensing rules say something about serving nutritious food, but not when you can serve. Check with your licensor to be sure.

Second, several people commented about their bad experience while being on the Food Program. I understand your points, however, let's be sure everyone understands the financial benefit for being on the Food Program. If you are on the Food Program at the lower Tier II rate and you serve breakfast, lunch, and one snack you will get about $500 per child per year. If you work 3 hours a week on Food Program paperwork and have four children you are earning about $13 an hour. Not bad.

Third, the rules for the Food Program are the same in every state for every sponsor. I don't know if you can claim meals eaten away from home. If you don't like the answer your sponsor is giving you ask to see the written rule that they say prevents you from claiming meals eaten away from home.

Thanks Tom!! It makes sense to ask to see the written rule and maybe it's just in our area that they are overworked and under-staffed but I find that I call and leave messages and they finally called me back when I would request info or at least to be reffered to someplace that I can look it up it was a hassle.

I'd also like to say that I'm not discouraging anyone from using the food program at all. It just didn't work for me. I still follow the guidelines I just didn't feel that I had an appropriate support from the food program staff in my area. I had lots of questions, never got any real training other than a file with paperwork about what we could not do. After that each time my sponsor came by to check on me all she sis was tell me what I was doing wrong and when I asked her for sample menu's etc. she told me to look at the info that was in my file. I told her a few times that if I understood what she was telling me that I would be doing anything wrong to which she would say "Go on the website". I also noticed that people said they had to go to a training and in all of the time that I was enrolled with the food program I never once went to a training, I found a lot of the answers to my questions by looking online such as, portions, what kinds of food counted, what a well balanced meal was etc. but it was all done on my own. A training would have really helped me out.

Kudos to those of you who have great sponsors .

[TomCopeland]

Meals away from home

I just spoke with someone who works for a Food Program sponsor and works on a national level with other sponsors. She said that the federal Food Program rules allow providers to claim meals and snacks served outside the home as long as the meal meets nutrition standards and the provider notifies the sponsor ahead of time (so they can drop in on your picnic!). If your sponsor says you can't count picnics, ask them to show you the regulation that says you can't do this. If necessary, talk to your state agency that oversees your sponsor. If you need further help with this, contact me.