Coordinated Review Effort
Coordinated Review Effort (CRE)
Coordinated Review Effort
 A federally mandated accountability review
of the National School Lunch Program
 Conducted every 5 years in public schools,
private schools and residential child care
institutions
 A standard review form is used
 Examines critical and general areas of
program operation – at SFA and at a
designated number of schools
CRE REVIEW
 School selection based upon criteria stated
in federal regulations
 Selected from October claim (due by
November 10th)
 Notified of school selection, December
 Superintendent and food service director
notified of review details about 4 weeks
prior to the review
Overview of CRE Process
 Entrance conference
 School Food Authority (SFA) review
 School level reviews
 Exit conference
 Report to Superintendent and School Board
President
SFA and School Reviews
 Critical areas
 General areas
 State addendum
Critical Areas of Review
 Eligibility: free & red. price application
- Direct Certification
- Benefit Issuance
- Updating eligibility
 Accurate counting and claiming
- Day of review and review period
 Meal pattern compliance
- Day of review and review period
Critical Area Non-compliance
 Requires corrective action by SFA
 Requires recovery of funds
 May warrant a follow-up review
Follow-Up CRE:
 Free and Reduced Price Meal Applications:
5% or greater error rate
 Counting and Claiming: system as
implemented does not yield accurate count
 Meal Pattern: meals claimed for
reimbursement – the required food items
not available to all students
SFA: General Areas
 System for consolidating the claim
 Monitoring responsibilities
 Reporting and record keeping
 Civil Rights
 Benefit issuance
 Verification
SFA: State Addendum
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Internal accounting
Billing and collections
Audit compliance
Systems management
Annual Report
Procurement
Inventories
Staffing
Policies
School: General Areas
 Free and reduced price process
-Policy statement
-Overt identification
School: General Areas
 Meal Patterns
-Portion sizes meet the meal pattern
-Variety low-fat fluid milk available
-Offer vs. serve implemented correctly
-Option B: 10/12 bread servings weekly,
servings of fresh fruits & vegetables,
dried beans, dried peas, or lentils
weekly
-Moderate levels of fat, sugar & salt/sodium
School: General Areas
 Reporting and record keeping: records
maintained for 3 years + year of operation
 Civil rights: poster, non-discrimination
statement included on program materials,
i.e., school handbooks, menus
 Special dietary needs
 Daily point of service documentation:
method and summary reports
School: State Addendum
 Cash management:
-Receipts for cash received
-Reconciliation with bank statement
-Bank reconciliation reflect two
signatures
-Dual signatures on checks
-Petty cash
 Internal controls:
-Proper segregation of duties
-Edit checks completed
School: State Addendum
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Competitive food sales
Food safety and HACCP Plans
Production records
CN labels and local recipes
Drinking water available
Adequate time for meal
Dining area and admin. practices encourage participation
Pregnant & lactating students
A la carte sales
School and community involvement in nutrition policies
and practices
General Area Non-compliance
 Requires corrective action; however,
noncompliance does not warrant a followup review or recovery of funds.
Common CRE problems
 Application, benefit issuance, and direct
certification errors
 Verification problems – timeframe, status change,
documentation, notify household of verification
outcome
 Manual meal count input errors
 Daily summary reports not updated
 Receipting of cash collected daily
 Cash collected on line (potential for overt
identification)
 Segregation of duties
Common CRE Problems
 Monitoring – recommend using OCN form,
- document follow-up visits
 Not enough time to eat
 Competitive food sales
-Minimal nutritional value
-Direct competition in cafeteria
-Non-compliance w/ Policy 4321.1
 Non-reimbursable meals
-Inadequate monitoring of salad bars
-Failure to document accurately
Common CRE Problems
 School negotiated snack and beverage
contracts
 SFA written response to corrective action
time-frames (within 30 days of receipt of
written CRE report)
 Five whole grain servings per week
 Current health department inspection (2)
 Collection of outstanding bill payments
Keys for a successful review
 Train school staff so they know what to
expect
 Be prepared: review this information and
organize materials needed for the CRE
(school and SFA checklists, review forms, etc.)
 Relax!
We’re counting on you
To serve the children of WV