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Child And Adult Care Food Program

 

New Online: CACFP Participation Trends 2009 (pdf)

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a key source of support for serving nutritious meals and snacks in child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start, after-school programs, shelters and adult day care centers. The program provides reimbursement for food and meal preparation costs, ongoing training in the nutritional needs of children, and onsite assistance in meeting the program's strong nutritional requirements. CACFP plays a vital role in creating and maintaining quality, affordable care for preschool and school-age children.

History
CACFP was founded in 1968 to provide federal funds for healthy meals and snacks served in child care centers and family child care homes. Congress has expanded CACFP to support children in a variety of new settings including at-risk after-school programs and homeless, domestic violence and runaway shelters. In addition, CACFP has been made available to adult day care centers serving chronically impaired adults or people over age 60.

Participation
In FY 2008, CACFP served over 3 million children daily in child care centers, family care homes, and after-school programs; served over 105,000 elderly persons in Adult Day Care; and provided approximately 1.8 billion meals and snacks.

Benefits
CACFP is a well-documented success. Studies have shown that children in CACFP receive meals that are nutritionally superior to those served to children in child care settings without CACFP. Children in participating institutions have higher intakes of key nutrients, fewer servings of fats and sweets, than children in non-participating care. Research cites participation in CACFP as one of the major factors influencing quality care, reporting that 87 percent of the family child care homes considered to be providing quality child care participated in CACFP.

Eligibility
To be eligible for participation in CACFP, a sponsor must be a licensed or approved child care provider or a public or nonprofit private school which provides organized child care programs for school children during off-school hours. Any child up to age 12 or adult attending a participating adult day care facility is entitled to meals. Programs eligible for participation include non-residential child or adult care institutions such as group or family child care, child or adult care centers, Head Start, recreation centers, settlement houses and after school programs. For profit child care centers serving 25 percent or more low-income children are also eligible.

Reimbursement
Participating programs are required to provide meals and snacks according to the nutrition standards set by USDA. The reimbursement rates vary based on the type of meal (lunches have a higher reimbursement rate than snacks), and the type of institution. Child and adult care centers and family child care homes have means-tested reimbursement systems that provide higher levels of reimbursement for low-income families: centers have a three-tiered and homes have a two-tiered reimbursement rate structure. See USDA Food and Nutrition Service's CACFP Reimbursement Rates. At-risk after-school programs and homeless, domestic violence and runaway shelters are assumed to be serving low-income children and are reimbursed at the highest rate.

Funding
CACFP is an entitlement program. In FY 2008, the total federal cost for CACFP was $2.3 billion.


Child Care Wellness Plans and Policies

Documents are pdf unless otherwise noted.

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Local Farm to Child Care Initiatives

Local CACFP Nutrition Partnerships

Partnership for Children's Child Care Nutrition Consultation Project in Durham, North Carolina

Addressing Childhood Obesity Prevention Through State Child Care Licensing Regulations

CACFP News, Information & Resources
  Child Care Feels Economic Woes - CACFP news video (KPTH, Iowa, 3/10/09)
  Bringing Your Congressperson, State Officials or Policy Makers to Visit
A Child Care Center or Home Participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
Creating CACFP Materials in a Low Literacy Format
Resources for the Child and Adult Care Food Program for Children in Homeless, Runaway, and Domestic Violence Shelters
  CACFP: A Building Block For the Future
Sample State Fact Sheet for CACFP
CACFP Sponsoring Organizations: An Essential Link To Quality Affordable Child Care
CACFP: An Important Resource For Feeding Children and Providing Them Safe Havens
Child Nutrition Law Provides New Resources for Feeding Homeless Children through CACFP
CACFP: A Resource For School Food Service Serving Children in Afterschool Programs
Using CACFP as a Substantial Resource for Supporting Quality Family Child Care
Click here for a list of CACFP state agency contacts.
  FRAC has Two New Resources on Feeding Children in Domestic Violence Shelters
Click here to link to resources to assist afterschool and summer programs in using the child nutrition programs.

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