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Child And Adult Care Food Program
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 2003, CACFP served over 2.8 million children daily in child
care centers, family care homes, and after-school programs; served over
80,000 elderly persons in Adult Day Care; and provided approximately 1.7
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 using Title XX funding to serve 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 2003, the total federal cost
for CACFP was $1.7 billion.
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