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