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 July 2017
Issue 9
Recertification for FY 2018 is almost here!
 
The annual CDPHE-CACFP recertification process for Fiscal Year 2018 (October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018) will begin in August 2017.

Once the 2017-2018 application is open, all participating CACFP institutions must submit the completed online recertification application packet by mid-September 2017 to avoid an interruption in claims.

CACFP will email a letter on the FY 2018 recertification process to all institutions soon with important information and instructions.  Stay tuned for more information!
 CACFP claim related forms for 2017-2018 now available
 
Claim related forms for 2017-2018 are available on the CACFP website.  

FY 2018 Reimbursement rates from the USDA will be emailed to all CACFP participants once the rates are received by the CACFP office staff.

Child care center forms include:
Household Income Eligibility Guidelines.
Income Eligibility Forms (IEFs) in English and Spanish 
Child Care IEF letter in English and Spanish

Adult Day Care forms include:
Adult Household Income Eligibility Guidelines
Adult Income Eligibility Forms (IEFs)  
Adult IEF Letter

Colorado WIC:  Growing Healthy Families


WIC provides nutrition education, healthy foods, breastfeeding support and health referrals to eligible women, infants and children.  Colorado has 107 WIC clinics throughout the state. Call 800-688-7777 to find the WIC clinic nearest to you.

Federal CACFP regulations require each institution (other than outside school hours care centers, at-risk afterschool care centers, emergency shelters and adult day care centers) to provide parents of enrolled children with current information on the benefits and importance of WIC as well as the eligibility requirements for WIC participation.
 
For eligibility guideline, WIC brochures and more information, visit the WIC website.
Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals

Early care and education (ECE) professionals face many of the same challenges as parents in creating healthy meals with existing resources. Recognizing this, Share Our Strength's Cooking Matters® launched Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals, a FREE professional training program designed to empower professionals to serve healthy meals and create a positive food environment for the children in their care. Each of its five modules offer professionals hands-on practice in the kitchen, interactive discussions on ways to make healthy choices about food served to kids, and strategies to promote healthy eating habits.

Cooking Matters for Child Care Professionals was developed in 2010 to address the specific needs of family childcare home providers and center-based ECE staff that serve young children from limited-income families.

Sign up for a FREE training event in your area today!
2017 CACFP Institution and Site Staff Training
 
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
August 23



September 13



October 11



Novermber TBD



December 13 
.
Pueblo Institute of Child Nutrition
140 Central Main Street
Pueblo, CO 81003

Mesa County Public Health Department
510 29 ½ Road
Grand Junction, CO  81504

CDPHE
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO  80246

Colorado Springs



CDPHE
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO   80246
 
Register online at www.colorado.gov/cdphe/cacfp-state-training

For more information, please contact Jodi Christopfel at 303-692-2608 or Jodi.Christopfel@state.co.us

Double Up Food Bucks Colorado (Double Up Colorado) helps increase access to fresh, Colorado-grown fruits and vegetables. When recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) shop at participating farmers markets, they can now have their purchase matched with a voucher worth up to $20 per visit to put toward Colorado-grown fruits and vegetables.

Food insecurity is a significant issue in Colorado, with 11 percent of our state’s population living in poverty. Many of these Coloradans rely on food assistance programs like SNAP (formerly food stamps), which serves more than 485,000 Coloradans a month. However, most SNAP recipients receive $1.41 per meal or $4.23 per day in benefits, making it a challenge to have enough money to buy food for the whole month.

Double Up Colorado addresses the challenges these families face by increasing the amount of Colorado-grown fruits and vegetables that recipients of SNAP can purchase. Double Up Colorado will be active in 30 farmers markets, 3 food box sites, and 4 small retailers (including Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), food co-operatives, corner stores and urban agriculture marketplaces). You’ll find a full list of the participating markets on the Double Up Food Bucks Colorado website.

Double Up Food Bucks Flyer English / Spanish
 

 
Life Center Academy
 
Director Dana Richardson and her staff at Life Center Academy in Pueblo, Colorado have taken on new roles this year as sub grantees of the Cooking Up Healthy Options with Plants (CHOP) Grant. CHOP is a Team Nutrition USDA grant that is leading the way in Farm to early education in Colorado.
 
Life Center Academy takes pride in the development of the whole child: academically, socially and spiritually, while supporting their physical, emotional and mental growth. With CHOP,  the children learn how plants grow and exposes them to new and more nutritious foods. Increasing consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables helps them to lead longer, healthier lives.  With these combined missions, a perfect partnership was created between CHOP and Life Center Academy.
 
Teachers at Life Center Academy create daily activities using Team Nutrition's Grow it, Try it, Like it! curriculum.. Last month, the children started spinach plants that grew in the newly constructed greenhouse located on the playground.

While the children learned how to grow their own food, CHOP culinary training provided staff with new skills in the kitchen. Center cooks create and prepare new menus with a focus on increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables offered, and the skills to do so efficiently.

Prior to joining CHOP, Life Center used their menu as a way to introduce new cultures and culturally relevant foods. They have now shifted their focus to include local foods while offering a rainbow of produce.  This practice offers children the opportunity to try fresh fruits and vegetables every day in different ways.
  
Life Center Academy applied for the CHOP grant with the hopes of improving their menus and bringing a garden to their playground. Director Dana Richardson says "they got more than they could have hoped for" as a CHOP sub grantee.
Recipe Corner
 

Purple Power Bean Wrap 

Adapted by Brittany Martens, B.A. - Team Nutrition Grant Educator.

Find the recipe here.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA. 
 
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
 (1) Mail:            U.S. Department of Agriculture 
                         Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 
                         Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; 
(2) Fax:            (202) 690-7442; or 
(3) Email:         program.intake@usda.gov. 
 
This institution is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

Contact Info for CACFP

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Child and Adult Care Food Program
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO  80246

P   303-692-2330      F   303-756-9926     
CACFP Website
CACFP Website
CACFP Email
CACFP Email
WIC Website
WIC Website
CHOP Facebook
CHOP Facebook
Bits and Bites is published by:
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Child and Adult Care Food Program 
PSD-CAC-6411
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO  80246-1530

P   303-692-2330
F   303-756-9926


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