Code of Maine Rules › 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › 148 - OFFICE OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES › Chapter 1 - CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM POLICY MANUAL NONDISCRIMINATION NOTICE › Section 148-1-III - APPLICATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM › Subsection 148-1-III-C - ORGANIZATION/SPONSORS RESPONSIBILITY

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
1. PURPOSE:
To establish and define, as minimum, an
					 organization's/sponsor's responsibilities to the facilities it
					 operates/sponsors and to the Bureau of Child and Family Services
2. STANDARDS:
1. The organization shall comply with current
				  Federal and State laws and requirements and is responsible for the submission
				  of a completed initial or renewal application and management plan for
				  participation for itself and the adult day care or child day care facilities it
				  operates or sponsors to the Bureau for processing and approval.
2. The organization shall accept final
				  administrative and financial responsibility for food service operation in all
				  adult or child day care facilities under its jurisdiction.
3. The organization shall annually state its
				  preference, in writing, to receive either donated commodities or cash-in-lieu
				  of commodities. The selection shall apply to all centers or child day care
				  homes operated or sponsored by the organization.
a An organization which elects to receive
				  donated commodities for the adult day care centers or child day care centers it
				  operates shall not be eligible to receive, cash-in-lieu of commodities payments
				  for lunches or suppers served to enrolled participants in those
				  centers.
b An organization which
				  elects to receive donated commodities for the child day care homes under its
				  sponsorship shall receive the current U.S.D.A. reimbursement rate for lunches
				  and suppers served to enrolled children in approved homes less the current
				  cash-in-lieu of commodities rate.
4. Each organization shall provide adequate
				  supervisory and operational personnel for the effective management and
				  monitoring of the program at all facilities under its jurisdiction. At a
				  minimum., such program assistance shall include:
a. Pre-acceptance visits to each adult day
				  care or child day care facility for which application is made to discuss
				  program benefits and to verify that the proposed food service does not exceed
				  the. capability of the facility;
b.
				  Training for all adult day care or child day care facility staff. Such training
				  shall address C.A.C.F.P. duties and responsibilities and shall occur prior to
				  the beginning of C.A.C.F.P. participation.
c. Additional training sessions to be
				  scheduled and provided for all staff and/or child day care home providers* at
				  least once each year. These sessions shall be documented by:
1 an agenda of topics addressed,, showing the
				  date and location of each session;
2 attendance sheets showing the name of each
				  participant and attendee; and
3
				  evidence that information relating to the sessions was made available to all
				  staff and providers who were not able to attend.
d. Reviews of food service operations to
				  assess compliance with requirements for meal patterns and recordkeeping. Such
				  reviews shall be patterned after the Bureau's Supervisory Review mechanism and
				  shall be conducted at least:
1 Three times
				  each year at each adult or child day care center, provided at least one review
				  is conducted during each center's first six weeks of program participation and
				  not more than six months elapse between reviews;
2 Three times each year at each child day
				  care homes, provided at least one review is conducted during each home's first
				  four weeks of program participation and not more than six months elapse between
				  reviews; and
3 Six times each year
				  for each outside-school-hours care center, provided at least one review is
				  conducted during each such center's first four weeks of program participation
				  and not more than three months elapse between reviews.
e. The organization shall maintain
				  information concerning the location and date of each adult and child day care
				  facility review, any problems noted, and the corrective action prescribed and
				  effected.
5. The
				  sponsoring organization shall submit a copy of a signed application for each
				  center's and child day care home's participation to the Bureau for approval.
a. An application for sponsorship of a child
				  day care home that appears on the sponsorship lists of any other organization
				  shall not be accepted by the Bureau unless:
1
				  The child day care home gives its current sponsoring organization advance
				  written notice of the desire to terminate the sponsor/home
				  relationship.
2 The current sponsor
				  organization gives the Bureau written notice that its agreement with the child
				  day care home is being terminated. Such notice must specify the effective date
				  of the termination and must be submitted to the Bureau upon receipt of the
				  advance written notice from the child day care home.
3 The start date of a previously sponsored
				  home does not occur in the same claiming month as the termination from the
				  previous sponsor. The State may not pay sponsor administrative expense funds to
				  two sponsors for the same home in the same month.
b. No sponsor shall be approved by the State
				  to accept more than two (2) child day care homes per claiming month which
				  appear on the sponsorship list of any other organizations. This allows an
				  organization to accept a maximum of 24 transfers during any agreement period.
				  The only exceptions to this policy shall be at the discretion, of the State and
				  only in situations such as, but not limited to, the termination of a sponsoring
				  organization from the C.A.C.F.P.
c.
				  An organization shall not claim for reimbursement meals/supplements served in a
				  center or child day care home until approval and effective date for operations
				  of the center or sponsorship of the child day care home has been received from
				  the Bureau.
d. A sponsoring
				  organization shall not claim administrative reimbursements for, or show as
				  operating, any home that does not provide service or reimbursable
				  meals/supplements to children during the month being reported.
6. An organization shall maintain
				  records of attendance for each facility it operates or sponsors.
a. A licensed center or child day 'care home
				  may not claim in excess of its licensed capacity for any meal/supplement unless
				  documentation is made available monthly to the organization which shows the
				  times-in and times-out of all participants in order to clearly demonstrate the
				  licensed capacity was not exceeded at any one time.
b. A registered child day care home is
				  limited to serving the number of unrelated children cited on the registration
				  certificate plus related children. A registered child day care home may only
				  claim up to the number of children cited on the registration certificate for
				  any meal/supplement type unless documentation is made available monthly to the
				  sponsor which shows the times-in and times-out of all unrelated children in
				  order to clearly demonstrate the registered capacity was not exceeded at any
				  one time. A child related to the provider in accordance with the previously
				  stated definition of "Related Children" may be claimed without regard to the
				  registered capacity only if such child's relationship to the provider is
				  clearly indicated on the child's C.A.C.F.P. enrollment form and on the
				  provider's daily meal count and attendance forms. The provider's own children
				  may only be claimed if the provider has completed a "Dear Parent" enrollment
				  package as described in subsection B, standard(b) (ii) of Section III of this
				  manual.
7. A sponsoring
				  organization may terminate an agreement with a child day care home to
				  participate in the C.A.C.F.P. for cause or convenience only by written notice.
a. The written notice shall give the child
				  day care home provider the effective date of the action and the reason(s) for
				  the termination.
b. If the
				  termination is for cause, the notice shall cite the appropriate section of the
				  C.A.C.F.P. policy manual that has been violated, the corrective actions that
				  were attempted and the technical assistance provided.
c. A copy of the termination action shall be
				  forwarded to the Department of Human Services, C.A.C.F.P. Program
				  Specialist.
8. An
				  organization proposing to develop a home sponsorship or to increase the number
				  of child day care homes sponsored may make application to the Bureau for
				  "Start-Up Funds." An organization applying for "Start-up Funds" shall:
a. Meet the requirements stated in Section
				  III, Subsection A;
b. Submit a
				  management plan detailing:
1 the number of
				  recruitment contacts to Prospective day care homes being proposed;
2 the timelines for project start and finish,
				  (such time lines may not extend into a second agreement period);
3 the names of home providers already
				  contacted who are expected to participate in the program; and
4 plans for training new home providers.. and
				  the number of pre-approval visits.
c. Sponsor fewer than 50 child day care homes
				  at the time of application for "Start-up Funds" and receive funds to start no
				  more than the difference between 50 homes and the number sponsored at the time
				  of application;
d. Submit a budget
				  detailing the costs expected to be associated with the start-up of child day
				  care homes. The total amount of "Start-up Funds" to be advanced shall not
				  exceed twice the current monthly sponsor administrative payment rate multiplied
				  by the number of homes expected to be started during the project
				  period;
e. Maintain program and
				  financial records for the start-up project separate from any other program
				  records;
f. Provide documentation
				  of start-up activities performed, and related costs incurred, by the sponsoring
				  organization to the Bureau;
g. Not
				  receive more than one approved agreement for "Start-up Funds";
h. Not claim as part of the "Start-up Funds"
				  project:
1 any expenses incurred for a child
				  day care home after the effective date of adding that home to its
				  sponsorship;
2 expenses related to
				  recruiting any homes already sponsored by the organization already
				  participating in the C.A.C.F.P. under other sponsorship, or which at some time
				  in the past participated In the C.A.C.F.P. and
3 any expenses incurred prior to start or
				  after the expiration date of the project.
i. Repay, upon demand by the Bureau* any
				  "Start-up Funds" not expended in accordance with the approved agreement or
				  funds advanced in excess of actual project expenditures.
9. Sponsoring organizations which are not
				  eligible for "Start-up Funds" because they have already completed a "Start-up
				  Funds" project or because they already sponsor 50 or more child day care haws
				  which wish to further expand their sponsorships may make application to the
				  Bureau for an "Expansion Funds for Low-Income or Rural Areas" project. An
				  organization applying for "Expansion Funds" shall:
a. Meet the requirements stated in Section
				  III, Subsection A.
b. Submit a
				  management plan detailing:
1 the number of
				  recruitment contacts to prospective child day care homes being
				  proposed;
2 the time lines for
				  project start and finish (such project shall not exceed 12 consecutive calendar
				  months);
3 the names of those home
				  providers already contacted who are expected to participate in the C.A.C.F.P.;
				  and
4 Plans for training new home
				  providers and the number of pre-approval visits.
c. Allow at least one full year to elapse if
				  the organization has already received "Start-up Funds", since the organization
				  satisfied all Its obligations under such project.
d. Submit a budget detailing the costs
				  expected to be associated with the "Expansion Funds" project.
e. Be advanced "Expansion Funds" in an amount
				  not less than the current sponsor administrative expense reimbursement rate for
				  one month multiplied by the number of child day care homes anticipated to be
				  recruited as part of the "Expansion Funds" project, and not more than twice the
				  current sponsor administrative expense reimbursement rate multiplied by the
				  number of homes anticipated to be recruited as part of the project.
f. Maintain all records related to the
				  "Expansion Funds" project separate from all other program or project
				  records.
g. Provide documentation
				  of "Expansion Funds" activities performed and of all related costs incurred to
				  the Bureau. The amount of "Expansion Funds" ultimately received by the
				  organization may not exceed the amount actually expended by it.
h. Not receive more than one approved project
				  for "Expansion Funds."
i. Not claim
				  as part of the "Expansion Funds" project:
1
				  any expenses incurred for a child day care home after the effective date of
				  addition of that home to its sponsorship;
2 expenses related to recruiting any homes
				  already sponsored by the organization, already participating in the C.A.C.F.P.
				  under other sponsorship, or which at some time in the past participated in the
				  C.A. C. F. P. ; and
3 any expenses
				  incurred prior to the start or after the expiration dates of the
				  project.
j. "Expansion
				  Funds" may only be expended for activities directed towards reaching homes in
				  "rural" or "low-income" areas.
1 "Rural" is
				  defined as any area in a county which is not a part of a Metropolitan
				  Statistical Area (MSA) or any "pocket" within a NSA which,, at State agency
				  option,, and only with USDA Regional Office approval, is determined to be
				  geographically isolated from urban areas,
2 "Low-income" is defined as an area in which
				  poor economic conditions exist. In order to determine if an area is
				  "low-income" 50% or more of the children enrolled in the school or schools
				  serving the children who live in the area where the C.A.C.F.P. expansion is to
				  occur must be eligible for "Free" or "Reduced-Price" meals under the National
				  School Lunch or School Breakfast Programs.
In order to determine if an area is "low-income" the
					 sponsor shall directly contact the local school or schools serving the area in
					 order to acquire and provide to the Bureau the following:
1 The name and location of the school(s)
				  serving the children who reside within the "Expansion Funds" project
				  area;
2 The number of children who
				  are eligible for "Free" or "Reduced-Price" meals who are enrolled in the
				  school(s); and
3 The total number
				  of children enrolled in the school(s).
k. When determining if an area is "rural",
				  that is, outside a Metropolitan Statistical Area, the following information
				  must be considered. In Maine the Federal Government recognizes four MSA's. They
				  are as follows and include the towns and cities listed:
1 Bangor, Maine:
Bangor City, Brewer City, Eddington Town, Glenburn Town,
					 Hampden Town, Hermon Town, Holden Town, Kenduskeag Town, Old Town City, Orono
					 Town, Orrington Town, Penobscot Indian Island Indian Reservation, Veazie Town,
					 Winterport Town.
2
				  Lewistor-Auburn, Maine:
Auburn City, Greene Town, Lewiston City, Lisbon Town,
					 Mechanic Falls Town, Poland Town, Sabattus Town.
3 Portland, Maine:
Buxton Town, Cape Elizabeth Town, Cumberland Town, Falmouth
					 Town, Freeport Town, Gorham Town, Gray Town, Hollis Town, Portland City,
					 Raymond Town, Scarborough Town,, South Portland City, Standish Town, Westbrook
					 City, Windham Town, Yarmouth Town.
4 Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester New Hampshire,
				  Maine:
Berwick Town, Eliot Town, Kittery Town, North Berwick Town,
					 Ogunquit Town, South Berwick Town, Wells Town, York Town.
10. Once an application
				  for "Expansion Funds" has been received the Bureau shall:
a. Notify the applicant organization of
				  approval or disapproval of the project within 30 calendar days.
b. If an application is incomplete the Bureau
				  shall so notify the organization within 15 calendar days and provide technical
				  assistance as needed.
c. The Bureau
				  may approve too organizations to expand into the same area provided there is no
				  overlap of child day care homes and so long as "Expansion Funds" are not
				  approved twice for recruitment of the same home.
d. Encourage "Expansion Funds" projects to be
				  directed to "unserved areas." An "unserved area" is one in which child day care
				  homes may wish to participate In the C.A.C.F.P. but are not able to because no
				  sponsor organization serves that area.
11. Any organization which is approved for
				  an. "Expansion Funds" project must repay, upon demand by the Bureau, any
				  "Expansion Funds" not expended in accordance with the approved agreement or
				  funds advanced in excess of actual project expenditures.
12. Organizations shall distribute no less
				  often than annually, the "Dear Parent" or "Dear Household Member" package,
				  updated yearly and provided by the Bureau, to each adult day care center
				  applicant or to the parent(s), guardians of each child enrolled in a center or
				  to those child day care home providers wishing to claim meals/supplements
				  served to their own children. The "Dear Parent" and "Dear Household Member"
				  package shall be used to:
a. Enroll all
				  applicants for C.A.C.F.P. participation in all centers.
b. Inform applicants, or parents/guardians of
				  the current enrollment requirements and income eligibility guidelines for
				  "Free" and "Reduced-Price" meals/supplements;
c. Annually update each adult's or child's
				  eligibility status through completion of the enrollment form included in the
				  "Dear Parent" or "Dear Household Member" package; and
d. Acquire the required Racial/Ethnic
				  identity information for each child or adult for whom C.A.C.F.P.
				  meal/supplement payment will be claimed.