Nutrition Services Administrative Review and Consulting 

Nutrition is a vital factor in the overall health of an individual. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a goal of increasing food security and providing nutritious food access to children and low-income people. States support this goal by administering several state-run nutrition programs.

Myers and Stauffer has contracted with state agencies since 2018 to perform comprehensive Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) administrative reviews of participating organizations as well as consulting services to the state agencies. We provide these administrative review services to multiple states.

CACFP Administrative Review Services

• Meal observation. We observe several requirements including but not limited to:
  • The meal service provided by center staff to ensure accurate accounting of participant attendance, proper food service preparation and delivery, and timely service of credible meals.

• Center observation. We observe additional requirements, such as:
  • Civil rights/non-discrimination.
  • Health and safety.
  • Adequate at-risk activities.

• Request and review of records from sponsoring organizations and their centers, independent centers, and daycare homes. The records requested and reviewed include:
  • Attendance records to confirm the number of attendees.
  • Sign-in sheets to confirm the attendance records are accurate.
  • Annual participant income eligibility and enrollment documents to verify participants quality for free, reduced, or paid meals.
  • Menu and production records to confirm the dates meals served align with participant attendance records and to confirm meals served meet the USDA required components to qualify as nutritious meals.
  • Expense documentation such as bank statements, general journals or monthly records of CACFP cost, receipts/invoices for CACFP purchases.
  • Milk receipts to verify the purchase of the minimum required amount of allowable milk types.

• Parental contacts. When necessary, we contact participant parents to confirm center’s attendance records are accurate.

SFSP Administrative Review Services

• Meal observation. We observe several requirements, including, but not limited to:
  • The meal service provided by center staff to ensure accurate accounting of participant attendance, proper food service preparation and delivery, and timely service of creditable meals.
  • Compare observed attendance on meal-observation day to prior days to confirm prior attendance numbers are comparable.
  • Compare attendances to site capacity limitation and determine need to reduce the site capacity.

• Center observation. We observe additional requirements such as:
  • Civil rights/non-discrimination.
  • Health and safety.

• Request and review records from sponsoring organizations and their centers as well as from independent centers. The records requested and reviewed include:
  • Attendance records to confirm the number of attendees.
  • Menu and production records to confirm the dates meals served align with participant attendance records and to confirm meals served meet the USDA required components to qualify as nutritious meals.
  • Expense documentation such as bank statements, general journals or monthly records of CACFP costs, receipts for CACFP purchases.
  • Milk receipts to verify the purchase of the minimum required amount of allowable milk types.
  • Food-service management company kitchen: review number of meals prepared, general sanitation, including food-storage temperatures and temperature when meals are served to participants.
  • Food transportation review: review of meals prepared and delivered by a third-party vendor.

For both CACFP and SFSP Administrative Reviews we additionally: 

• Perform exit conferences with sponsors and/or centers and facilitate the corrective-action process.
  
• Provide technical assistance to sponsors and/or centers during the administrative review process. 
• Issue findings to state agencies and perform additional procedures for seriously deficient providers. Some of our recommendations might include the recommendation for a follow-up review or intent to terminate from the program. 

• Additionally, Myers and Stauffer provides consulting and support services to state agencies administering these nutrition programs. Our consulting and support services include: 
  • Appeal support and expert testimony.
  • Validation of center program requirements prior to claim issuance. 
  • Administrative review process improvement recommendations.
  • Recommendations for administrative review work paper and tool enhancements and updates. 

Our services are flexible and can be tailored to best meet state agency CNP goals and approach.

With each of our services, Myers and Stauffer is pleased to offer the following:

• Unbiased results. Myers and Stauffer does not work directly with CNP participating organizations. Doing so avoids perceived and real conflicts of interest.
•  Proven audit methodologies. Some of the core elements of the Myers and Stauffer audit approach include:
  • Subject matter expertise. We offer staff with experience in child nutrition programs, auditing, and project management.
  • We believe in communicating with the state agency throughout the review process so findings are vetted, balanced, and consistent.
  • We only employ needed procedures to achieve client objectives, and we leverage technology in doing so.
  • Professional skepticism. This is a fundamental element of certified public accounting (CPA) professional standards, and requires us to have an inquisitive, yet balanced mind, in order to achieve unbiased results.
  • Our findings are supported by sufficient and appropriate evidence.
  • We report in a clear and concise manner, focusing only on actionable findings specific to documented expectations.

In addition to our nutrition services that impact child care centers, we perform non-nutrition compliance services on behalf of state agencies that also impact this provider type. 

Grant Funding for Child Care Centers

The American Rescue Plan Act 2021 (ARPA) included funding for child care center stabilization grant funding. Many states are administering programs to provide grant funds to keep early childcare centers open in their state. Myers and Stauffer assists states by performing compliance reviews of the childcare centers that received stabilization funds to ensure the grant funding is utilized by the centers for its intended purpose. Myers and Stauffer, already very familiar with the childcare center landscape and documentation requirements for other programs, utilizes this expertise to perform strategic compliance reviews of childcare centers. Our reviews include reviewing attendance records to evaluate the change in attendance over periods of time and reviewing childcare center expenditures including payroll expenditures.

Contact the subject matter experts for further information: