SECTION 340:105-10-68. Congregate meals service standards

(a)   Policy. The congregate meals service includes the provision of nutrition education and at least one hot or other appropriate meal five or more days per week, at least 250 days per year. The congregate meals service:

(1)   is located at congregate settings, including adult day care facilities and multigenerational meal sites, except in rural areas where such frequency is not feasible as defined by the Assistant Secretary for Aging;

(2)   provides at least 25 meals per day, including home delivered meals, at each site unless a written waiver is received from the State Agency on this requirement.

(A)   Funding for a site serving less than 25 meals per day may be withdrawn and reallocated when the site does not have waiver approved by Aging Services Division (ASD). An ASD approved waiver may be withdrawn when a congregate meals site is not determined viable.

(B)   A congregate meals site on the list of those serving less than 25 meals per day with a previously approved waiver from ASD on file is reviewed annually for continued viability by the congregate meals project and Area Agency on Aging (AAA). ASD is notified by the AAA in writing when a congregate meals site consistently serves 25 or more meals per day and is removed from the list. Only congregate meals sites without an ASD approved waiver on file must submit requests annually; and

(3)   complies with standards outlined in this Section, OAC 340:105-10-51, and 340:105-10-69 through 340:105-10-80.

(b)   Authority. The authority for this Section is Section 331 of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended and Part 1321.11(a) of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(c)   Procedures. The procedures for implementing this Section include the AAA:

(1)   incorporating the provisions in this Section into the Title III policies and procedures manual;

(2)   providing orientation to congregate meals service staff on the policy;

(3)   monitoring compliance with the policy;

(4)   providing ongoing technical assistance to Title III projects regarding the policy;

(5)   constructing a list of all cooking and satellite meal sites annually serving less than 25 meals per day;

(6)   submitting the list and a written request for a waiver at least 30 days prior to awarding funding for any nutrition project that proposes in the grant application to provide less than 25 meals per day at any site and does not have an ASD approved waiver on file. The written request includes:

(A)   status of each site, such as cooking or satellite;

(B)   average number of eligible meals served per site per day;

(C)   average number of other meals served per site per day;

(D)   documentation of the rural nature of the site ;

(E)   pertinent demographics; and

(F)   other factors that justify the waiver ; and

(7)   maintaining approved waiver requests on file at the AAA and congregate meals project office for review by auditors.

(d)   Cross references. See OAC 340:105-10-50.1(a)(4), (7), and (12), 340:105-10-51, 340:105-10-69 through 340:105-10-80 and 340:105-10-86.

[Source: Added at 11 Ok Reg 673, eff 11-29-93 (emergency); Added at 11 Ok Reg 2771, eff 6-13-94; Amended at 19 Ok Reg 1170, eff 5-13-02; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 1062, eff 7-15-06]