Afterschool Suppers

Overview
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides federal funds to afterschool programs to serve suppers to children age 12 and under during the school year. The supper can be served at any time during the afterschool program, either at a traditional dinner time or immediately when the students arrive after school depending on the length of the afterschool program. An afterschool snack can also be served in addition to the supper.

Just as with afterschool snacks, to qualify for suppers, afterschool programs must offer educational or enrichment activities. Because of this requirement, athletic programs that compete in leagues and do not have other activities do not qualify to serve suppers.

A handful of states -- Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia -- have a program, available through CACFP, that allows afterschool programs to provide suppers to children 18 and under (instead of only 12 and under) with less paperwork and red tape. Click here to learn more about this exciting new supper program.

Reimbursement Rate
The federal reimbursement rate for afterschool suppers is adjusted annually to keep up with the cost of inflation. To find out how much afterschool programs can receive per supper this year, check out the current reimbursement rates for CACFP.

The afterschool program is reimbursed based on each child’s school meals eligibility category. For example, if 25 students at the afterschool program receive “free” priced lunches at schools, 20 students receive “reduced-price” meals and 10 students receive no discount on their meals, the afterschool program would be reimbursed according to those rates. It would receive the “free” snack reimbursement rate for 25 students, the “reduced-price” rate for 20 students and the “paid” rate for 10 students.

Nutrition Guidelines
All suppers served through the Child and Adult Care Food Program must meet USDA nutritional guidelines and include all of the following:

• 1 serving of milk
• 2 servings of fruits and/or vegetables
• 1 serving of grains
• 1 serving of protein

A supper can be hot or cold and as simple as a ham sandwich, cucumber slices, apple, and a carton of low-fat milk.

The state child nutrition agency can provide afterschool programs with additional information about the nutrition guidelines and help them plan menus that meet the USDA requirements. Also, check out FRAC’s model supper menus.

Get Started
To begin serving suppers at an afterschool program, contact the state child nutrition agency that oversees CACFP.