What is the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that provides reimbursement for nutritious meals and helps develop positive eating habits in young children enrolled in licensed child care homes and centers. In Minnesota, the CACFP is administered by the Minnesota Department of Education in partnership with sponsoring organizations such as Milestones.
The MN Family Child Care Licensing Rule states that food served in child care must include servings from each of the basic food groups as documented in the USDA’s code of regulations (title 7, Section 226.20). For this licensing standard, you will need to document what you are serving for meals and snacks. Take it a step further and join the CACFP and you can get paid for doing the paperwork and take advantage of all the other great benefits of being on the Food Program.
Who can participate in the Food Program?-
Licensed family child care homes serving children up to age 13 are eligible to participate in the CACFP.
Who benefits from the Food Program?
Providers Benefit by receiving reimbursement for meals and snacks, nutrition education, resources and support to assure success.
Children Benefit by eating nutritious meals and snacks that promote healthy development and USDA meal pattern requirements.
Parents & Guardians Benefit by knowing that their children are served nutritious meals and are developing healthy eating habits.
How does the program work?
Nutritious meals are reimbursed at rates determined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). These rates are the same for each sponsoring organization across the state. The rates are designed on a fee schedule which helps assure that providers and children with the greatest need, due to income limitations, receive the greatest financial assistance. Participants may claim up to two meals and a snack or two snacks and a meal per child per day.
|
Current rates effective from 7/1/23 through 6/30/24 |
Tier I |
Tier II |
|
Breakfast |
$1.65 |
$0.59 |
|
Lunch/Supper |
$3.12 |
$1.88 |
|
Snacks |
$0.93 |
$0.25 |
Milestones offers several options for menu planning and meal claiming to ensure the Food Program experience is as easy and flexible as possible. Providers may use written menus or our most popular, KidKare online claiming which is web-based and can be used on any platform including PCs, Macs and Android or iOS phones and tablets.
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. Read More
