Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
Program Description
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) plays a vital role in improving the quality of day care and making it more affordable for many low-income families. The CACFP provides reimbursement for nutritious meals and snacks served to children and adults in day care facilities. Participants in the Program also receive nutrition education materials and training in planning and serving safe, nutritious meals to those in their care. Each day, 3.3 million children receive nutritious meals and snacks through CACFP. The program also provides meals and snacks to 120,000 adults who receive care in nonresidential adult day care centers. CACFP reaches even further to provide meals to children and youth residing in emergency shelters or participating in eligible afterschool care programs.General Program Requirements
Independent centers and sponsoring organizations enter into agreements with their administering State agencies to assume administrative and financial responsibility for CACFP operations. In centers and certain day care homes, participants from households with incomes at or below 130 percent of poverty are eligible for free meals. Participants in centers with household incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of poverty are eligible for meals at a reduced price. Institutions must determine each enrolled participant's eligibility for free and reduced price meals served in centers. Participants in day care homes located in low-income areas or operated by low-income providers are automatically eligible for free meals.Children whose families receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or State programs funded through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or who are enrolled in Head Start or Even Start are automatically eligible for free meals, without further application or eligibility determination. Foster children who are the responsibility of the State or placed by the court, and children who are experiencing homelessness are also automatically eligible for free meals. Adult participants who receive SNAP, FDPIR, Social Security Income (SSI), or Medicaid benefits are also automatically eligible for free meals.
Maximum income limits for eligibility are available at:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs.htm
