National CACFP Week

March 20, 2013 by 2 Comments

This week is National CACFP Week.  No one will dispute that our nation’s children need nutritious food to grow to their healthy, full potential.  This article from Time magazine highlights how difficult this can be in a childcare setting.  All across the country these small businesses are challenged with balancing the need for nutritious food and the need to keep their child care businesses operating in the black.  The CACFP can help them bridge the funding gap, but as this article illustrates, the complexity of the program can be difficult for child care providers to navigate without advocates and mentors to help them along the way.  Our software is one of the ways that participants can help manage the complexities of the CACFP.  But even with good tools in place it is still important for us to advocate for measures that make program participation easier and make the program itself more accessible to those who need it most.

Filed under Center Sponsor, Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu CX, Minute Menu HX, Minute Menu Kids, Provider Tagged with

Shortcut for Recording Meal Counts in cx2go

January 10, 2013 by Leave a comment

Are you looking to make data entry as quick and easy as possible for your centers?  Here’s an idea:  introduce them to cx2go and show them this quick-tip for data entry!

On the Record Meals screen, the center can record meal counts for multiple children at once, instead of having to select attendance for each individual child.

Here’s how:

  1. Access the Record Meals screen and select a meal.
  2. Click the Edit button at the top right of screen.
  3. Select each child who attended the meal.  Note: To select a large number of children, use the Select All button and then deselect those who did not attend the meal.
  4. Click the Edit Selected Children button at the bottom.
  5. Select the meal serving that is being recorded.
  6. If applicable, use the Sick option to note that school-aged children were in attendance at the center because of an illness.
  7. Use the School-Out option to note that a school-aged child was in attendance at the center because of a school holiday or if school is not in session.
  8. Click the Apply button and all selected options will be added to the selected children.
  9. Always remember to SAVE your work!

cx2go meals screencx2go select multiple children2

This short-cut can make data entry into cx2go even faster!  For more information about cx2go, click here!

Accessing the App

To log in to cx2go on a laptop or desktop computer, go to cx2go.mobi using either the Google Chrome browser or Safari.   (The app will not work correctly in Internet Explorer.)  To download Google Chrome, go to www.google.com/chrome.

To login or download cx2go to a mobile device, search for “cx2go” (no spaces) in the product application store (the App Store, Google Play, or Marketplace, etc.).

NOTE FOR SPONSOR AND BACK-OFFICE USERS:  The cx2go application is only accessible by CENTER accounts.  Click here if you would like to learn about setting up a test center account to use for training purposes.  Test center accounts can be very useful for internal staff training and for training new centers.  After you have enrolled a test center, you must enroll children in order to view the screens in the app.

Filed under Center Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu CX Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apply for the Champions for Healthy Kids Grant – due by Dec. 3rd

November 5, 2012 by Leave a comment

The Champions for Healthy Kids program is awarding 50 grants of $10,000 to nonprofit organizations working to improve nutrition and physical fitness behaviors for youth.  The program awards grants to comunity based groups (health departments, government agencies, schools, etc.)  that develop creative ways to adopt a balanced diet and a physically active lifestyle. 

Here are a few of the main requirements:

1.  The program must be ongoing (not a one-time event).

2. The program must include a physical component (that is measurable).  The physical activity can either be “moderate,” meaning 30 minutes, 5 days/week OR “vigorous” activity, 3 days/week for 20 minutes.

3. A registered dietition (RD) or a dietietic technician (DTR) must either be directly involved or serve as an advisor to the program to ensure that the nutrition information in the program is accurate and scientifically based.

Click here for more information and to apply for the grant.  Click here to view the frequently asked questions page.

Applications are due by Dec. 3rd by 3pm (central time).  Grant recipients will be announced in May 2013.  Funding will be available for recipients in June 2013.

Filed under Center Sponsor, Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu

Minute Menu LLC Creates Utility for Procare Software to Integrate Food Program Management Functionality with Child Center Management Software

August 30, 2012 by 2 Comments

Minute Menu LLC, the premier developer of child care center food program management software products, is proud to announce a partnership with Procare Software, a leader in the child care center software industry. Procare Software users now have access to the features of Minute Menu CX to help manage and streamline the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) claims and reimbursement process.

Minute Menu LLC has developed a utility that allows Procare Software to add Minute Menu CX functionality to its child center management software. This utility is designed to help child care centers reconcile child and guardian identification numbers from Minute Menu CX to Procare, and to transfer new child enrollment information from Procare to Minute Menu CX. Read more of this post

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Household Contacts Using Minute Menu HX

August 30, 2012 by Leave a comment

The Claimed Attendance Detail by Child report in Minute Menu HX is a great solution to conducting household contacts. This report displays a complete list of meals claimed for a specific child organized by date for a claim month.

We suggest first creating a message in Microsoft Word that can be printed directly onto the printed Claimed Attendance Detail by Child report. Because the Claimed Attendance Detail by Child report can often take up most of the printed page, we suggest creating the message in a text box that can be rotated to print alongside the detail on the report. To do this, follow the steps below. Read more of this post

Filed under Homes Sponsor, Minute Menu, Minute Menu HX Tagged with , , , ,

New App for Centers: cx2go App for iPhones, iPad, and iPod Touch

July 23, 2012 by Leave a comment

We are pleased to announce the availability of our new mobile app for Minute Menu CX™—cx2go™!  cx2go allows center staff to use their iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to record meal counts, attendance, and in/out times for children without having to be in front of a computer.  Having center staff enter this information directly into cx2go can save time, paperwork, and money!

cx2go is available as a free download from Apple’s iTunes App Store.  The app will work on the iPhone, iPad, and the iPod Touch.  Centers can also access the application from our mobile site, cx2go.mobi, on any computer using the Chrome or Safari browsers. (This includes Mac and PC computers.) Read more of this post

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Common Questions Home Sponsors Ask About Sponsoring Centers

July 19, 2012 by Leave a comment

1.        What is the hardest part of sponsoring unaffiliated centers?

  • Keeping staff.  It can be difficult to find that right people who can handle the pressure.  The person must be determined not to let the responsibility and learning curve get them down.  They must be tactful and gracious at the same time.
  • The numbers.  It is no harder than being a sponsor of family child care homes…just on a larger scale.  Be sure that you understand how much food needs to be prepared and purchased by the center, the numbers can get overwhelming.
  • Center Staff Turnover.  There is a lot of staff turnover and often the sponsor is unaware when this happens.  Staying on top of that and ensuring that new staff are trained is a challenge.
  • Night and Weekend Monitoring.  Large centers that provide care 7 days a week (including suppers) are a challenge to monitor because it requires monitoring visits on weekends and at night.  These monitoring visits can take hours.

2.       What do you wish you’d known before beginning to sponsor centers?

  • To focus efforts on serving centers with large capacities in low income areas.  These centers and families need the CACFP most, and the reimbursement will be large enough to cover more of the associated sponsoring costs.
  • Make sure you understand your state agency’s expectations regarding cost allocation, budgeting, and whether or not the serious deficiency process applies for centers.
  • Start off your centers with a thorough understanding of what is required and what actions will be taken if they are out of compliance with the regulations.  Let them know there is no wiggle room in this program.

3.       Ask yourself the following questions before applying to your state agency to begin sponsoring unaffiliated centers:

  • Do I have the start-up capital needed to pay for the costs involved with sponsoring centers?
  • Is my state agency prepared to help me?
  • Do I acknowledge that, to stay in business, sponsoring agencies must start working with centers, shelters, adult care facilities, etc., because the number of family child care providers continues to dwindle?
  • Am I willing to work as hard or harder than I did when I started sponsoring family child care providers?
  • Am I ready to succeed even when everyone thinks I am crazy?
  • Do I have access to unrestricted funds?
  • If I do not have access to unrestricted funds, can I document that I am not using funds from my home sponsorship?
  • Can I send emails in the evening?
  • Can I do it without asking staff to help with center start-up?
  • Do I know and understand the requirements of the state and federal agencies?
  • Am I willing to go to the state agency training for new independent centers to find out what the state expects from them?
  • Am I willing to provide centers with additional value if they choose to contract with my organization over the state agency?

As you can see beginning to sponsor unaffiliated centers takes time and effort; however, the determined sponsors who’ve succeeded tell us that it was worth it!

Filed under Center Sponsor, Homes Sponsor

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