[X] Action Required
[ ] Informational
October 6, 2008
TO: Private School and Residential Child Care Institution Sponsors of the National School Lunch/School Breakfast Programs
RE: Revised Civil Rights Requirements
The Oregon Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs (ODE CNP) changed several components of the civil rights requirements.
The civil rights requirement changes are:
- Revised nondiscrimination statement
- New annual racial-ethnic reporting requirements
Revised NonDiscrimination Statement:
ODE CNP revised the nondiscrimination statement to match the statement required by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Changes include new contact numbers and the elimination of religion as a protected class. Religion is a protected class in Oregon but is not required to be on the Federal statement. ODE CNP has chosen to revert back to using the USDA nondiscrimination statement.
By October 1, 2008, sponsors must have the following long nondiscrimination statement on all publications that are over one page that mention USDA Child Nutrition Programs:
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“In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call, toll free (866) 632-9992 (Voice). TDD users can contact USDA through local relay or the Federal relay at (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866)377-8642 (relay voice users). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.”
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Federal regulations allow use of a shorter nondiscrimination statement on program material less than one page in length; i.e. brochures, coupons, electronic benefit cards, menus, and flyers. The short statement must be in the same size print as the text of the document.
The revised short nondiscrimination statement must also be on all required documents by October 1, 2008, and reads as follows:
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"This Institution is an equal opportunity provider." |
Sponsors may use the name of the sponsor instead of the words “this institution” in the short nondiscrimination statement.
If sponsors printed large quantities of materials with the old nondiscrimination statement and still have a supply on hand, please use the new nondiscrimination statement for the next re-print.
The Civil Rights and Application materials distributed to sponsors attending the August trainings have the new nondiscrimination statement. These updated materials are posted on the ODE CNP web at:
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=206
New Annual Racial-Ethnic Reporting Requirements:
Annually, sponsors are required to collect the racial-ethnic data and maintain data on file for three years. This is a new requirement with the revision of FNS Instruction 113 Rev-1.
ODE CNP no longer collects this information as a part of the renewal process. Sponsors are now required to collect the following information annually on the enclosed Racial Ethnic Annual Data Collection form.
- Determine and record the number of potentially eligible beneficiaries by the USDA racial-ethnic categories for the area served by each institution. Sponsors may use the enclosed county-level census data
or data from local school district or school.
- Collect actual participant data by racial-ethnic data for each school nutrition program site. Visual identification may be used to determine a participant’s racial-ethnic category or parents/guardians may be asked to identify this information. Enclosed is a Racial-Ethnic Data Collection form that may be used for this purpose.
The first data collection must be completed by November 1, 2008. Do not submit this form to ODE CNP. ODE CNP staff will check data collected on potential beneficiaries and participants when conducting administrative reviews.
If you have any questions, please contact your assigned Child Nutrition Specialist or me.
Sincerely,
Heidi Dupuis
Manager, School Nutrition
Child Nutrition Programs
Office of Finance & Administration