Child and Adult Care Food Program
Sponsorship Benefits
- Online Record Keeping
- Monthly Payments
- Improved Cash Flow
- Staff Training
- Menu Planning
- Peace of Mind
Choose 4-C as Your Local CACFP Sponsor
The Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federal assistance program that promotes good nutrition and healthy eating. As an extension of the National School Lunch Act, CACFP provides nutrition education training and financial assistance with the cost of providing nutritious meals and snacks in child care.
Benefits of the Food Program
Monetary Reimbursement
Every month you will receive reimbursement from 4-C for the creditable snacks and meals you serve per child. If you serve five children breakfast, lunch and snack five days a week, your monthly check will be between $160 – $350. Rates vary depending on the federal guidelines. Your own children under 13 may also be eligible.
Free Resources and Training
4-C provides CACFP providers with free nutrition training materials and resources, recipes and fun activities to help children learn healthy eating habits.
Peace of Mind for Parents
As a 4-C Food Program participant you will receive CACFP brochures and information to share with parents. Parents can feel confident that their child care professional is preparing nutritious meals and snacks that meet USDA requirements every day and that they are encouraging their child to develop good eating habits.
Eligibility
Child Care Centers
To be eligible for the CACFP, child care centers must be a non-profit organization OR a for-profit with 25% of enrolled children eligible for free or reduced meals.
Family Child Care Home Providers
The CACFP provides reimbursement for meals to all state certified and licensed family child care home providers serving healthy meals and snacks to children in their care.
The food program is a wonderful asset to child care providers. The food program makes it to where I can supply healthy nutritious meals for my children in care. We are very fortunate to be offered this program.
The food program has helped my center be able to make better food purchases and to eliminate highly processed food. The food program schedule keeps us consistent, and there is less fuss at meal times because the kids know when to expect it.
We’ve been partnering with 4-C through the CACFP since 2013. I get super excited to purchase all sorts of healthy foods for the children and never have to worry about the cost. This program is truly a blessing!
4-C’s knowledge of the Food Program is outstanding. Their expertise helps me daily to provide the best nutritional meals at my Daycare. The reimbursements provide the funds needed to ensure the children receive the best and most wholesome meals available.
Child Care Mealtime:
High Quality Food Choices and Program Practices
How do you provide nutritious meals for the children in your care on a tight budget?
Looking back on the over 20 years they have been serving food to children, Rose Smith, owner and executive director of Trinity House Christian Child Care, said, “I don’t know how we did it but we did. It wasn’t easy. We had to improvise, react, overcome, but we made it work some kind of way.” The challenge Rose and her staff faced is a common one, how to ensure the children in their care were fed nutritious meals daily and stay within a tight budget.
Food Program Resources
USDA
Tools
Meal patterns, posters, methods and practices, these tools are designed to help you serve healthy meals.
Policy
Updates
Stay informed with USDA Food and Nutrition Service CACFP policy updates and memos.
Meal Pattern Requirements
View a summary of the top nine changes to the CACFP meal pattern requirements.
Food Program Ready to request a sponsorship?
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