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Returning Uncashed Check Funds

This Management Bulletin (MB) establishes a timeframe and provides procedural guidance to day care home sponsors participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) regarding the return of funds from uncashed provider checks. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Services Instruction 796-2, Revision 3, Section IX E 2 j(1) requires CACFP sponsors to return unliquidated provider reimbursements to the state agency after the sponsor has made a reasonable attempt to locate the provider. The California Department of Education (CDE) is then required to return the funds to the USDA.

Please note that by December 31 of every year sponsors must return to the CDE any unliquidated funds from uncashed day care home provider reimbursement checks that are older than nine (9) months. For example, sponsors must return funds for any uncashed provider checks written prior to April 1, 2007 by December 31, 2007.

All uncashed provider federal and state reimbursements are to be returned by check(s) to the CDE’s Cashier’s Office at the following address:

California Department of Education
Cashier’s Office
PO Box 515006
Sacramento, CA 95851-5006

Each remittance check returned to the CDE must include the following information :

• The notation of “Uncashed Provider Check”
• The federal and state fiscal year(s) which the provider check(s) cover (If more than one federal fiscal year is involved, there should be one check for  each federal fiscal year.)
• The sponsor’s agreement and vendor numbers
• The provider’s name
• The original check number for the provider payment
• The month and year covered by the provider payment
• The funding source (i.e., federal or state)
• The amount of each uncashed check
• The meal count by meal type and tier level

Remit this information to the CDE, Nutrition Services Division, Program Integrity Unit at:

California Department of Education
Nutrition Services Division
Program Integrity Unit
1430 N Street, Suite 1500
Sacramento, CA 95814-5901

After the sponsor returns the uncashed funds to the CDE, the provider(s) affected by the returned funds must request reimbursement directly from the Program Integrity Unit.

Federal CACFP regulations require sponsors to retain all program records for the current year, plus three prior years. However, sponsors must also keep CACFP records for any fiscal year in which they have uncashed provider checks for as long as they retain the unliquidated provider funds.

If you have any questions regarding this MB, please contact Josh Michel, Program Analyst, by phone at 916-327-6466 or by e-mail at jmichel@cde.ca.gov, or Michael Smith, Program Analyst, by phone at 916-323-5755 or by e-mail at msmith@cde.ca.gov.