FNS Instruction 788-6 Rev. 2 (119.07 KB)
Section 226.15(e) of the current regulations requires institutions to establish procedures to collect and maintain necessary program records. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that adequate records are available to enable administering agencies to fulfill their monitoring responsibilities. A potential difficulty can arise, however, when a sponsor operates facilities in one state but maintains its headquarters and records in another state. In such situations, a state agency's representatives might have to travel unreasonably long distances to review that sponsor's records. This Instruction, therefore, emphasizes that administering agencies have the authority to require sponsors to maintain all records pertinent to their Child and Adult Care Food Program operations within that state. Furthermore, an administering agency not wishing to mandate this requirement may instead require that all pertinent records be made available inside that state within a reasonable period of time, usually 30 days.
In issuing this clarification, the division reiterates that administering agencies have a special need for access to program records. Therefore, program records should be made available for review by representatives of administering agencies during normal business hours. Furthermore, representatives of administering agencies should not be expected to travel outside their jurisdiction to examine these records.