Today, April 30, 2026, USDA announced the creation of the Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA) to oversee USDA’s 16 nutrition assistance programs. In addition, USDA announced the reorganization and relocation of all program staff from Washington D.C. to regional hub locations.
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Deputy Under Secretary Patrick Penn of USDA Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services; Tina Fritz Namian, Deputy Associate Administrator with USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service; and Alexia Thex, President of the National CACFP Association, recently participated in a site visit to Lulu’s Kids Care, a CACFP family child care home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Is ultrafiltered milk creditable in the CACFP?
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Over the past three months, USDA has released new guidance, income eligibility guidelines, an updated crediting handbook, and announced Farm to School Grantees. Read on to see what you’ve missed.
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Katie Quinlivan is the Program Director at Yours For Children, Inc. (YFCI), a CACFP sponsor of family child care homes that was founded 1985. Katie, herself, has been with YFCI for almost 30 years and follows in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.
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Are black bean brownies creditable as a grain in the CACFP?
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Looking for food program training? Join us each day from your home, your office, or your home office between 11:30 am – 3:00 pm Eastern.
We’re bringing you workshops on nutrition, program administration, operations, financial and nonprofit management, and more!
Learn how to identify, purchase, and serve farmers’ market finds so that your CACFP participants can enjoy fresh flavors of the seasons.
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Join us for this 2-day event as we tackle the most common topics surrounding special diets in the CACFP.
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Join us for a webinar on July 7, 2022. USDA will provide an overview of the recently enacted Keep Kids Fed Act and additional information for 22-23.
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Sunny days with a refreshing breeze are a perfect time to take dining outdoors.
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Join us on Zoom Friday, June 17th for a Q&A that we will use to share feedback to the White House for the Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. This opportunity to collaborate and amplify our concerns on the issues facing us and our participants can play a critical role in this national conversation.
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Today, April 30, 2026, USDA announced the creation of the Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA) to oversee USDA’s 16 nutrition assistance programs. In addition, USDA announced the reorganization and relocation of all program staff from Washington D.C. to regional hub locations.
Read More
Over the past three months, USDA has released new guidance, income eligibility guidelines, an updated crediting handbook, and announced Farm to School Grantees. Read on to see what you’ve missed.
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The National CACFP Association proudly announces U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) as the recipient of the 2026 Friend of CACFP Award. This honor recognizes decision-makers who have demonstrated a strong commitment to strengthening and advancing the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) through leadership, advocacy and meaningful legislative action.
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CACFP ensures millions of children and thousands of older adults and adults with disabilities receive the nutritious meals they need to thrive. The program is well known for the high-quality meals it provides and the long-term benefits it has for children’s health. Less well known, but just as important, is how the health benefits of the CACFP extend beyond diet and branch into physical activity and screen time as well.
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March 12, 2026 The USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides “nutritious foods that contribute to the wellness, healthy growth and development of young children.” Limiting sugar in children’s diets is an accepted recommendation within the scientific community and has appeared in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) since the first edition in…
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The CACFP is administered as a public-private partnership between the USDA, State agencies and sponsoring organizations to ensure nutritious meals and snacks are served to children and adults in care. Learn more about the role of the sponsoring organization in maintaining federal program integrity.
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Behind every CACFP meal is a system of oversight designed to maintain public trust and protect the people the program serves. Sponsoring organizations ensure compliance, accountability and continued access to nutritious meals while providing ongoing technical assistance. Here are resources that explain how program integrity is upheld in the CACFP.
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Exciting news! Head Start programs have an opportunity to access one-time supplemental funds to support nutrition services and healthy eating for enrolled children and families. You can use this funding for staff training on resources and educational opportunities to help your program improve outcomes for children and families and align with USDA requirements – like the CACFP!
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The Child and Adult Care Food Program has new creditable foods listed on the USDA Food Buying Guide! If you are new to the FBG, this interactive tool allows for easy display, search, and navigation of food yield information. In addition, users can compare yield information, create a favorite foods list, and access tools, such as the Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW) and the Product Formulation Statement Workbook.
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The Child and Adult Care Food Program community asked for more Spanish resources to be available on the National CACFP Sponsors Association website and we heard you! Available now in Spanish are more resources to help sponsors and providers with meal pattern requirements, best practices, and so much more!
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Serving meals to young people year-round benefits children, families, and care providers. To do this, many providers transition from operating the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool (ARAS) during the school year to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) while school is out. For an overview of the main differences between SFSP and CACFP ARAS, see the comparison chart below.
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NCA understands that the end of flexibilities will cause challenges for many CACFP sponsors and providers and we commend your continued commitment to providing nutritious meals and snacks to the children or adults in your care. In preparation for the end of the additional reimbursement, we have collected the following resources to help you successfully provide meals even if your available budget decreases.
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Is ultrafiltered milk creditable in the CACFP?
Read More
Are black bean brownies creditable as a grain in the CACFP?
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How are meats and meat alternates measured and credited in the CACFP?
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How are grains measured and credited in the CACFP?
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How are vegetables measured and credited in the CACFP?
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How are fruits measured and credited in the CACFP?
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Behind every CACFP meal is a system of oversight designed to maintain public trust and protect the people the program serves. Sponsoring organizations ensure compliance, accountability and continued access to nutritious meals while providing ongoing technical assistance. Here are resources that explain how program integrity is upheld in the CACFP.
Read More
Exciting news! Head Start programs have an opportunity to access one-time supplemental funds to support nutrition services and healthy eating for enrolled children and families. You can use this funding for staff training on resources and educational opportunities to help your program improve outcomes for children and families and align with USDA requirements – like the CACFP!
Read More
The Child and Adult Care Food Program has new creditable foods listed on the USDA Food Buying Guide! If you are new to the FBG, this interactive tool allows for easy display, search, and navigation of food yield information. In addition, users can compare yield information, create a favorite foods list, and access tools, such as the Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW) and the Product Formulation Statement Workbook.
Read More
The Child and Adult Care Food Program community asked for more Spanish resources to be available on the National CACFP Sponsors Association website and we heard you! Available now in Spanish are more resources to help sponsors and providers with meal pattern requirements, best practices, and so much more!
Read More
Serving meals to young people year-round benefits children, families, and care providers. To do this, many providers transition from operating the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Afterschool (ARAS) during the school year to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) while school is out. For an overview of the main differences between SFSP and CACFP ARAS, see the comparison chart below.
Read More
NCA understands that the end of flexibilities will cause challenges for many CACFP sponsors and providers and we commend your continued commitment to providing nutritious meals and snacks to the children or adults in your care. In preparation for the end of the additional reimbursement, we have collected the following resources to help you successfully provide meals even if your available budget decreases.
Read More
The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) released their Afterschool Supper report that snapshots participation in October 2024. They found that afterschool supper participation has increased and that CACFP represents 50% of the daily participation.
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The Stanford Center on Early Childhood released a RAPID report that looks at how issues of food insecurity and hunger are affecting adults who provide care for young children. Their key finding: hunger is on the rise among child care providers.
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USDA released their second report on the Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings (SNACS-II), which follow their first in 2022. SNACS-II uses data from program year 2022-23 to assess how well children’s diets and CACFP meals align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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A recent study by our partners at Child Care Aware® of America reveals that parents across the nation are struggling to find affordable, high-quality child care. The survey shows that parents are piecing together multiple care arrangements and facing challenges balancing work and caregiving.
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The CDC’s 2025 Early Childhood Nutrition Report gives us a big-picture look at how young children in the U.S. are eating and growing. It focuses on kids from birth to age 5 and shares important facts about breastfeeding, starting solid foods, eating healthy and how states support good nutrition.
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The “Characteristics of Emergency Shelters Participating in the CACFP” study by USDA seeks to better understand the characteristics of CACFP emergency shelters, who they serve, how CACFP fits into their operations, and their challenges with CACFP. The study was conducted in 2023 and collected data from 242 emergency shelters that participate in CACFP in Fiscal Year 2023.
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Katie Quinlivan is the Program Director at Yours For Children, Inc. (YFCI), a CACFP sponsor of family child care homes that was founded 1985. Katie, herself, has been with YFCI for almost 30 years and follows in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.
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Rebecca Phillips is the CACFP Coordinator for Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC). As a community action nonprofit, NEICAC provides services to support people through all stages of life, including CACFP. As a CACFP sponsor, NEICAC supports 35 family child care homes and 10 Head Start classrooms that serve over 700 children.
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Senta Hester is Executive Director of Our Daily Bread CACFP, a CACFP sponsoring organization in Tennessee and Kentucky. Our Daily Breads sponsored sites serve nutritious meals to 23,500 children and adults across the two states. Learn more about their work!
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Sponsor of At-Risk Afterschool, Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes March 23, 2026 Sloane Pittman is CEO of Child Nutrition Program (CNP), a CACFP sponsoring organization in North Carolina. Sloane is the third generation of her family to lead CNP. Sloane’s grandmother was an active advocate for women throughout the ’50s and the…
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Sponsor of Family Child Care Homes and Child Care Centers March 16, 2026 Lisa Lyons is the CACFP Director for The Planning Council, a human services organization that provides various services for children and families. Some of their programs include assistance at homeless shelters, respite for families with a special needs child and sponsorship of…
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Lutheran Services Florida sponsors 24 affiliated Head Start and Early Head Start sites, 396 family day care homes and four emergency shelters. Collectively, these programs serve nutritious meals and snacks to over 6,000 children in their care. Read more about the work of this NCA member.
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