CACFP Food Mapper Guide

Family child care homes are reimbursed using a two-tiered system. Tier 1 covers homes in low-income areas, low-income providers, and children from low-income homes. FRAC’s CACFP Food Mapper identifies low-income areas in which child care homes would qualify for Tier 1 reimbursement through Census data. Census data is especially useful for qualifying sites in rural areas or where pockets of poverty exist within affluent areas.

To determine the eligibility of a CACFP family child care home:

1. Access your state map through one of the following links:

CACFP Mapper

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State Name

FL TX NM AZ AK CA NV UT CO OR WA ID HI OK MT WY ND SD NE KS MN IA MO AR LA MS AL GA SC IL WI MI IN OH TN KY NC WV VA PA NY ME VT NH RI CT NJ DE MD MA DC VI

2. Once you have found your state’s map, click on the SEARCH field on the top left-hand side of the screen.

3. Enter the address of the proposed site in the pop-up window. Then click on the search button in the pop-up window below the address.

4. The mapper will show the address on the map with a blue location pin. Sites in eligible or maybe eligible areas will appear in either a red or blue area on the map.

  • ELIGIBLE SITES are in red areas. Providers operating in these areas qualify for Tier 1 reimbursement through Census data. These are areas where over 50 percent of the children in the census blocks are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals based on census data.

  • MAYBE SITES are in blue areas. The provider may qualify for Tier 1 by census with a weighted average. Between 40 and 49 percent of the children in the light blue Census blocks are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. USDA’s guidance allows these blocks to qualify if adjacent block groups (a maximum of three) averaged together have 50 percent of more of the children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. FRAC provides a calculator to determine whether these sites may be eligible. State child nutrition agencies are responsible for conducting the averaging and determining eligibility.

  • NOT ELIGIBLE SITES will be shown in areas with no background color. These sites do not qualify for Tier 1 reimbursement through Census Data.

5. Clicking on the blue location pin will provide a pop-up box with additional information about the area, including the census block and tract numbers. The box will also show the percentage of children between 0-18 and 0-13 that are eligible to participate. The Census block group number often is required by the state agency to qualify the site.

6. If your location is in a MAYBE area (blue), use FRAC’s Mapping Tool Calculator to determine eligibility in Census Block Groups that are between 40 and 49 percent.

For more information or questions about the CACFP Mapper, contact Geri Henchy, ghenchy@frac.org.