The Child and Adult Care Food Program
Nebraska Rural Area Eligibility Pilot Project
The 2004 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act includes a Nebraska pilot project expanding area eligibility for family child care in rural areas by decreasing the area eligibility threshold from 50 percent to 40 percent. Based on an analysis of the current data, this will increase the number of rural areas in Nebraska qualifying by 82 percent: raising the number of rural areas eligible from 121 to 220. The CACFP family child care pilot project offers an exciting opportunity to show how important reducing the area eligibility threshold will be to child care in rural areas.
This two year pilot is fully funded from fiscal year 2006 to fiscal year 2007. In addition, a USDA evaluation is funded. The study and report should be completed before the next child nutrition reauthorization. This should allow positive study findings to be ready in time to educate Congress about the value of expanding the pilot nationwide.
Pilot Adjusts for Realities of Rural Poverty
Under the 40 percent threshold in the pilot, may more homes will be eligible to participate in CACFP through the relatively easy route of area eligibility. This pilot adjusts the area eligibility threshold to reflect the realities of the distribution of rural poverty. The distribution of poverty in rural communities makes meeting the current eligibility requirement more difficult than in urban areas, which tend to have areas of highly concentrated poverty. Under the 50 percent threshold, reaching family child care providers in rural areas has been especially challenging because of the barriers to using area eligibility, the most successful and inclusive CACFP eligibility mechanism.
Pilot Provides Support for Good Nutrition in Rural Child Care
This pilot is vitally important because the majority of working families in rural Nebraska rely on family child care to keep their children safe and well cared for while they work. Research has shown that CACFP is key to assuring that family child care homes provide healthy meals and snacks. CACFP is especially important to rural working families because research has shown that longer distances between home, child care and job sites mean that rural parents often travel farther to jobs, causing longer hours for their children in child care. Children may spend most of their day and eat all of their meals at child care on work days. Consequently, CACFP in family child care plays an important role in shaping the nutrition habits of many young children in rural areas.Background: Area Eligibility
Area eligibility is an inclusive eligibility mechanism that allows family child care homes in low-income areas to participate under low-income (Tier 1) rates. Area eligibility is based on the percentage of children in families with income at or below 185 percent of poverty in an area. Most commonly, area eligibility is determined by school data but census data can also be used. When using school data, area eligibility is determined by the percentage of children qualifying for free and reduced price lunch at the neighborhood elementary school. This pilot will reduce the requirement to qualify as a low-income area from 50 percent to 40 percent.|
Factsheets on Child Nutrition Programs
 School Breakfast | School Lunch | Afterschool | Summer Food Women, Infants, and Children | Child and Adult Care Food Program |
Prepared by the Food Research & Action Center, 1875 Connecticut
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200; www.frac.org