Nebraska Department of Education Homepage

News and Announcements

What's new in CACFP

Materials Order Request

Blue & White Forms, And Justice for All Posters, Other Materials

CACFP now has a new order form for Blue & White meal count sheets, And Justice for All Posters, and Other Materials.

Order Form

USDA Emergency Operational Costs Funding

Payments are being disbursed to all eligible institutions including CACFP Sponsoring Organizations, Independent Centers and Family Day Care Homes. Eligibility is limited to those programs who have maintained their Child Nutrition Program participation by filing valid meal claims or have provided assurance to the State Agency that they will file a claim during the first 90 days after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. All eligible programs with their qualifying amount were previously notified based on the loss in reimbursement during the months of March – June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please be sure to watch your accounts for this direct deposit or payment sent by U.S. Mail.  The funds are expected to be used in the food service operation of your program.  A follow-up survey will be distributed at a later time requesting a summary of the use of the program funds.

Come on Nebraska Let’s CRUNCH!

Mountain Plains Crunch Off

Join Team Nebraska to celebrate October Farm to School month, promoting local seasonally available produce by biting into a local apple, or other crunchy fruit/vegetable October 21st, 2021 (or October date of your choice).  Nebraska is participating in the Mountain Plains Crunch Off, an eight-state competition (CO, KS, MO, MT, ND, SD, and WY). The state with the most crunches per capita is crowned the champion. Nebraska was the 2019 and the 2020 Mountain Plains Region Crunch Off champion and is looking to defend the title again.

The Crunch Off event encourages healthy eating, supports local agriculture, and helps students and community members gain a deeper understanding of the food system.

Create a Crunch Team and register as an individual or as many as you can get involved.  Crunch Off with schools, early childhood institutions, farmers, community members, businesses and local food enthusiasts to celebrate.

Click Here To Register Your Event

For more information contact:

Marla Kurtenbach at marla.kurtenbach@nebraska.gov

or Sarah Smith at sarah.e.smith@nebraska.gov

Employee School Readiness Tax Credit Information

Information from Nebraska Early Childhood -Step Up to Quality program regarding Tax Credit that is available to employees and self- employed individuals working in early childhood program. https://cdn.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Step-Up-to-Quality-2021-Flyer-002.pdf

Grain Requirement Reminders

Grain based desserts are not allowed.  Due to sweet crackers not having a standard of identity, the Nebraska State Agency only allows animal crackers and graham crackers to be creditable sweet crackers as listed on the CACFP grain chart Exhibit A. You are encouraged to limit the use of these sweet crackers.  Breakfast bars, granola bars and sweet breakfast biscuits are Not creditable. Attached is the USDA memo CACFP 09-2018 regarding Grain Requirements—refer to page 8-9 for Grain-Based Desserts. Grains Memo

September is Child Obesity Awareness Month

Information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and an occasion to spend time learning and engaging in activities that promote healthy eating and physical activity for children. There are many ways that the community can help support children working to improve and maintain good health. https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/features/childhood-obesity/index.html

Training Opportunities with Institute of Child Nutrition

Beans, Peas, and Lentils (Pulses) Legumes:
Innovative Ways to Prepare and Serve Pulses

October 7th Webinar
Join the CICN team and operators from around the nation as they share innovative and delicious ways to serve beans, peas, and lentils (pulses) legumes in child nutrition.

Learning Objective:  After the webinar, participants will recognize steps to plan for incorporating child-friendly, legume-based recipes in their foodservice operation.

Thursday, October 7, 2021 / 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET (2 – 3 PM CT, 1 – 2 PM MT, 12 – 1 PM PT)

Register Now

New CACFP Resources from Team Nutrition

USDA’s Team Nutrition initiative is pleased to announce the release of new resources for Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) operators. All materials are available in English and in Spanish, for download and printing. Printed versions of these materials will be made available at a later date.

To see Team Nutrition’s collection of CACFP training tools, please visit: https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/training-tools-cacfp.

Questions about this announcement may be sent to TeamNutrition@USDA.gov.

Other Training Opportunities through National CACFP Sponsors Association and USDA Team Nutrition

The Child Nutrition Virtual Summit was originally held on August 11, 12, 18 and 19, 2020. You can now access all the sessions on demand for over 20 hours of Continuing Education Units. CEUs marked with a $ are paid resources and pricing can be found on the respective item’s expanded information.

The 2022 National Child Nutrition Conference has been announced for April 19-22, 2022 in New Orleans, LA.

You can find more information regarding the National CACFP Sponsors Association on their website.

Team Nutrition Trainings available – click for resources found on the NDE website.

Records must be available on site
CACFP regulations require that your records be available for inspection on-site during your normal business hours. This means if you are visited by NDE Nutrition Services or USDA representatives and your records are not available on-site, an overclaim will be assessed for all months with missing records.

Updated September 24, 2021 8:55am