Division of Community Health Promotion
Bureau of Child Care Food Programs
The
Department of Health, Bureau of Child Care Food Programs, administers the Child Care Food
Program and its component programs, the Afterschool Snack Program and the Homeless
Children Nutrition Program. The goal of these
programs is to provide nutritious meals and snacks to children in child care programs and
other settings. Proper nutrition during
early childhood has a significant effect on brain development, learning ability and
health. Meal pattern requirements established by USDA are designed to ensure that meals
and snacks provided to children under these programs include the kinds and amounts of food
required to meet children’s daily energy and nutrient needs. Using the
Dietary
Guidelines for Americans and Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) for essential
nutrients as benchmarks, program regulations specify minimum amounts of each meal
component to be offered to children of different ages.
During federal fiscal year 03–04, these three programs provided at least one
meal or snack to an average of more than 150,000 of Florida’s children each day.
Program Descriptions
The Child Care Food
Program reimburses service providers for meals and snacks served to eligible children in
licensed, nonresidential child care facilities. Likewise,
the Afterschool Snack Program provides meal reimbursement for children in afterschool
educational or enrichment programs and the Homeless Children Nutrition Program for
children in temporary residential settings for homeless families and children.
The programs are administered by the state under
the auspices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.
The Child Care Food Program
provides meals and snacks to eligible children through a network of some 1,200 private
not-for-profit, private for profit and public child care organizations that contract with
the department. These contractors provide
services in more than 5,500 child care centers and family day care homes and may be
reimbursed for up to two meals and one snack per child per day. Licensed child care centers, including Head Start
Centers, may participate in the program independently or under the aegis of a sponsoring
organization; licensed family day care homes must participate under a sponsoring
organization.
Client Eligibility Criteria
Children
through age 12 are eligible for the Child Care Food Program, except that children of migrant workers may participate
through age 15 and certain disabled individuals are eligible regardless of age.
Child care centers are reimbursed at a higher
rate of reimbursement for children with family incomes at or below 130% of the federal
poverty line; a lesser reimbursement is received for children
between 130% and 185% of the poverty line. For
children from families with incomes above 185% of the poverty line, meals are reimbursed
at the lowest rate. Family
day care home providers are eligible for a high (Tier I) or low (Tier II) reimbursement
rate based on local elementary school socio-economic factors, census tract information, or
the provider’s household income.
In the
Afterschool Snack Program, providers are reimbursed for afterschool snacks served to
children through age 18 as long as the program is located in a school zone where at least
50% of enrolled children meet eligibility for free and reduced price meals.
Reimbursement is at the highest rate.
In
the Homeless Children Nutrition Program, meals and snacks are reimbursed for children
through age 18. Reimbursement
is at the highest rate.
Childcare Food Program website
