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Meal Disallowance Policies for Family Day Care Homes in CACFP

FNS Document #
CACFP 05-2009
Resource type
Policy
Guidance Documents
Policy Memos
Resource Materials
PDF Icon CACFP 05-2009 (71.80 KB)
DATE:March 31, 2009
MEMO POLICY:CACFP 05-2009
SUBJECT:Meal Disallowance Policies for Family Day Care Homes in Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
TO:Special Nutrition Programs
All Regions
State Agencies
Child Nutrition Programs
All States

The purpose of this memo is to reaffirm that family day care homes claiming CACFP reimbursement must comply with all program requirements, including meal pattern requirements, immediately upon commencing participation in the program.

It has come to our attention that some sponsoring organizations have established “grace periods” for new day care homes that are not meeting meal pattern or other requirements in the early months of participation. We would like to clarify that CACFP regulations do not provide for claiming grace periods to new homes that fail to serve reimbursable meals.

Although errors, such as serving meals with missing components, may not rise to the level of serious deficiency for new homes, the ineligible meals must always be disallowed. We would like to emphasize the importance of training, early monitoring, and technical assistance to ensure that new providers are able to serve reimbursable meals that meet meal pattern requirements.

Cynthia Long
Director
Child Nutrition Division

Page updated: October 31, 2024