USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides federal funds to nonresidential child and adult care facilities to serve nutritious meals and snacks. The goal of the CACFP is to improve and maintain the health and nutritional status of children and adults in care while promoting the development of good eating habits.

Eligible programs include non-residential licensed public or private nonprofit child care centers or family day care homes. Head Start, Early Childhood Educational Assistance Program (ECEAP), outside-school-hours, certain homeless shelters, and at-risk centers meeting the CACFP requirements are also eligible. For-profit child care centers may participate if at least 25% of their total enrollment or license capacity, whichever is less, receive compensation under Title XX of the Social Security Act, and/or through September 30, 2002, if at least 25% of their enrollment is eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Certain adult care centers that provide services to adults 60 years of age or older or chronically impaired disabled persons 18 years of age or older are also eligible.

Eligible participants include infants and children through the age of 12; children of migrant workers 15 years of age and under; mentally or physically disabled persons as defined by the state; and adults 60 years of age and older.

Reimbursement rates for child and adult care centers are based on family income eligibility, homeless shelters and at-risk centers are reimbursed at the free rate, and reimbursement rates for family day care home providers are based on a two-tiered structure determined by economic need based on the location of the day care home, the income of the day care provider, or the income of an individual child’s household.

For more information regarding the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), follow this link to USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp/child-and-adult-care-food-program

For more information regarding the Washington State Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), follow this link to the State of Washington, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Child Nutrition

http://www.k12.wa.us/ChildNutrition/Programs/CACFP/default.aspx

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