How does the food program help an
in-home family child care provider?

If you operate a family child care business out of your home, you're eligible to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)!

What do you get?

The quick answer: cash reimbursement.

The USDA reimburses family child care providers for a portion of their food costs as long as they serve meals that meet federal standards.  You're already serving food to the children in your care. Now you can get paid extra to do it, without charging your parents anything!

These payments, typically referred to as meal reimbursements, are made based on a formula for the number of children you feed at a given meal times the rate of reimbursement for that meal.  The rate of reimbursement varies based on several factors, including the type of meal served and income levels of those involved.  There are three different levels of meal reimbursement defined by the USDA:

• Breakfast
• Lunch & Dinner/Supper
• Snacks (a morning snack, afternoon snack, and evening snack)

In the lower 48 states, for example, the highest level of reimbursement for lunch & dinner is $2.06 per child served (rates effective July 2007 - June 2008).  So if you serve 6 children at a lunch, you will get paid as much as $12.36 for that lunch!  (In Alaska and Hawaii, the reimbursement is even higher).

Not all child care providers are reimbursed the same rates, however.  Lower income providers, or providers serving children in a lower income area, receive a higher level of reimbursement than higher income providers.  The USDA has split providers into two income categories, which they refer to as Tier I and Tier II family child care providers.  The level of reimbursement rate differs substantially between the two Tiers:

(lower 48 states, 2007-2008 fiscal year)	Reimbursement Rate Per Child Served
	Tier I	Tier II
Breakfast	$1.11	$0.41
Lunch & Dinner/Supper	$2.06	$1.24
Snacks (AM, PM, or Evening)	$0.61	$0.17

All family child providers qualify by default at a minimum for the Tier II rates.  In order to qualify for the Tier I rates for reimbursement, one of the following must apply:

• The family child care provider's household income must be below 185% of the poverty level (about $38k per year for a family of four)
• The family child care provider must live near a school where the average income is below that threshold
• If the child care provider lives in a rural area, the census block must have an average income below that threshold

Even if none of these apply, a provider can still receive Tier I reimbursement if specific children in care come from families that have income below a certain povery threshold.

For specific details on the current USDA CACFP reimbursement rates, click here.

Average Monthly Paycheck

The amount you get paid each month will vary depending on the number of meals & snacks you serve and depending upon your Tier.  Family child care providers offering drop-in care and serving 6 meals & snacks a day to a large number of children who come and go throughout the day can obviously expect to receive a much bigger check each month than those serving to a small number of children for just one or two meals.

However, let's make a few assumptions and show you how much you would be reimbursed.  Assume:

• You take care of 6 children
• Each child is served Breakfast, Lunch, and an afternoon snack
• You're open each weekday (about 21 business days a month)

In this scenario, Tier I family child care providers would receive a check of $476.28 per month.  Tier II family child care providers would receive $229.32 per month.

What could you do with a few hundred extra dollars per month?

What do you have to do?

Participating in the Food Program is almost a no-brainer for family child care providers.  After all, who doesn't want a few hundred extra dollars per month?  But in order to get that money, you do have to do some work.

First and foremost, you must serve your children the best quality meals.  The individual foods you serve and the combination of foods served together must follow the USDA meal pattern.

In addition, you've got to keep detailed documentation.  You've got to record what foods you're serving each day, and to whom you serve those foods.  You typically need to plan your meals out at least a week ahead of time.  And each month, you have to send that paperwork into your Food Program Sponsoring organization (more on that below).  We at Minute Menu try to make this as easy as possible, giving you software that allows you to record this information quickly and easily, in seconds... and as long as you choose a Sponsoring organization that we work with, this software is completely free for you.

Also, you've got to be willing to allow a representative from your Sponsoring organization into your home periodically throughout the year to conduct unannounced inspections of your care and records.  These inpections are an important part of ensuring that the tax dollars that go toward your reimbursement check are being spent in the way they were intended--to help you serve healthy meals to the children in your care.  Each month you supply paperwork that tells what you served and who you served it to.  Then every few months, someone will visit your home to check on the kids, make sure your kitchen is in good shape, help you with any paperwork issues you may be having, and otherwise make sure you are doing OK as far as the USDA is concerned.

How do you get started?

In order to participate in the Food Program, you've got to find a Sponsoring organization that works in your area.  Neither the federal government's USDA nor your state government's Food Program agency works directly with child care providers, so you will instead work on a month to month basis with one of these local or regional non-profit agencies called Sponsors.  (Click here for an explanation of these different Food Program agencies.) 

Your Sponsor will train you on all the details of the Food Program, including all the details of what foods to serve at each meal, how to do your paperwork, and more.  Typically, several Sponsors serve the same area, so you can pick any one you like.  They all have to follow the same general rules, and they all pay reimbursements the same way, so you don't have to worry about getting less money if you pick the wrong one.  However, it is important to bear in mind a few critical details when picking a Sponsor:

• Do you like Sponsor's staff member that will be coming to your home?
• Do they take time to train you well on the USDA requirements, or do they just go through the motions?
• How available are they to help you if you have questions or concerns?
• If you want to do your record keeping on-line (using Minute Menu), do they accept Minute Menu claims?

Your state Food Program agency should be able to get you a list of all the Sponsors who serve your area.  (The state food program agency is often separate from the state child care licensing agencies; but if you call your state child care licensing agency, they will usually be able to refer you to your state Food Program agency.  Click here for a list of all state food program agencies.)  Also, check back on this web site soon, as we hope to add a Sponsor search feature later this year.