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~· The Child Care Food Program Guide 0 R \ G \ N A L
For Outside-School-Hours Care Centers
United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service Washington. D.C. 20250
Revised Aprll1983 FNS-217
The Child Care Food Program (CCFP), administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
provides nutritious meals to children in nonresidential outside-school-hours care centers, child
care centers, and day care homes throughout the country. It also introduces young children to
many different types of food and helps teach them good eating habits. This guide outlines the
requirements for operating an outside-school-hours care center.
WHAT IS AN OUTSIDE-SCHOOL-HOURS CARE CENTER?
It is a public or private nonprofit center, or a proprietary Title XX center with at least a 25-
percent enrollment of Title XX beneficiaries, which is licensed or approved to provide care to
school children away from home outside of school hours. Outside-school-hours care centers
may participate in the CCFP independently or under a sponsoring organization that accepts
final administrative and financial responsibility for the program. However, public and private
nonprofit outside-school-hours care centers cannot participate in the program under a
proprietary sponsoring organization. Your center must be organized to provide child care
services, and must be distinct from a school's extracurricular programs for scholastic, cultural,
or athletic purposes.
WHAT ARE THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS?
To be eligible, your center must be public or have tax-exempt status under the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954, or must have applied to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for taxexempt
status at the time you apply to the Child Care Food Program. If your institution takes
part in other Federal programs for which it needs nonprofit status, it already meets this
requirement. Local IRS offices can provide information on how to obtain tax-exempt status.
Private centers in which at least 25 percent of the enrolled children are Title XX beneficiaries
need not obtain tax-exempt status. Your center must also be licensed or approved to provide
child care services. Your administering agency can provide information on how to obtain
licensing or approval. You may not provide child care services 24 hours a day to the same
child.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Children 12 and younger are eligible to participate in the program, except that the age limit is
15 years for children of migrant workers. People who are physically or mentally handicapped
can participate regardless of age, if they receive care at a center where the majority of the
enrollees are 18 or under.
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To be eligible for reimbursement, your outsidEH~chool-hours care center must serve meals that
meet the program's meal pattern requirements. These requirements help to ensure that all
meals will be nutritious and well balanced.
You may serve breakfast, a snack, and supper to enrolled children outside of school hours.
With the permission of the administering agency, you may serve lunch on weekdays to enrolled
children attending a school that does not offer a lunch program. Also, you may serve lunch to
all enrolled children during periods of school vacation, weekends, and holidays. However, no
child may receive more than three meals per day. If you serve three meals, at least one must
be a snack. (The food chart on page 7 lists the minimum requirements for each meal.) You
must operate during the week in order to be approved for weekend meal service • ..
ARE THERE SPECIFIC TIMES I MUST SERVE MEALS?
You must serve meals at regularly scheduled times each day. If there are changes in the
schedule of the meAl service(s), you must notify your administering agency in order to comply
with CCFP regulations. There must be at least 3 hours between the beginning of one meal
(including snacks) and the beginning of another. If no afternoon snack is served, there must be
at least 4 hours between the service of lunch and supper.
The service of lunch or supper cannot last for more than 2 hours. Breakfast and snack service
is limited to 1 hour. Supper can begin no later than 7 p.m. and must end no later than 8 p.m.
MAY I SERVE SECOND MEALS?
Do not plan to serve seconds. Meals should be prepared or ordered with the objective of
serving only one to each child at each meal service. Even with good planning, yol! can
sometimes be left with extra meals. Occasionally, you may serve them as secontl meals to
enrolled children and claim them for reimbursement. However, the administering agency may
determine on a case-by-case basis whether to reimburse these meals. It is important to plan
meal preparation or order meals carefully to avoid or minimize extra meals.
Sometimes, excess meals may be refrigerated and served the following day. However,
this may make meals less appealing, and serving leftovers can be risky even if you have
good storage facilities. Again, you should try to avoid excess meals by planning and
managing carefully.
WHAT IF MEALS ARE DEUVERED?
You may have meals prepared and delivered by a school food service facility or a food service
management company. In these cases, you must keep some additional records.
Each meal deli\·ery must be accompanied by a receipt. Before you accept any delivery, you
should count the number of meals that were delivered •
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In addition, you should check for incomplete meals, inadequate portion sizes, and spoiled
meals. If the number of meals delivered is incorrreet, or if incomplete, inadequate, or spoiled
meals are delivered, write the problems on the receipt and immediately contact the
appropriate agency or individual. If you find there are no problems with the number or quality
of the meals delivered, you should sign the receipt and indicate the time of delivery. A copy
of each signed delivery rece!pt must be maintained with the other CCFP records.
MAY I SERVE MEALS TO ADULTS WHO ARE WORKING WITH THE CCFP?
Your administering agency can give you more information on this matter.
WHAT REIMBURSEMENT WILL I RECEIVE?
The Child Care Food ProgTam provides financial assistance so you can provide nutritious meals
to children enrolled in your care. In general, program payments are limited to the number of
meals served to enrolled children multiplied by the appropriate rates of reimbursement. Some
State administering agencit'.S may base reim~ement on the maximum rates or actual costs,
whichever is less. The rate of payment varies, according to the family size and income of
children participating in the prorram. There is a higher reimbursement rate for needy
children.
CAN I RECEIVE ADVANCE PAYMENTS?
Outside-school-hours care centers that participate in the program are eligible to receive
advance payments. These funds are available to help pay for expenses centers incur before
receiving reimbursement for the month. You may choose to receive all or part of the advance
payments that you are eligible for, or you may choose not to receive advance payments.
CAN I RECEIVE USDA COMMODITIES?
Commodities or cash in lieu of commodities are available to outside-school-hours care centers
as an ad<Jitional program benefit. Com modi ties are foods that are in surplus supply around the
country and that are purchased by USDA. Centers that choose cash in lieu of commodities
may receive the cash value of the commodities as additional reimbursement for each lunch and
supper served. Interested centers will receive more information on this option at the time
they apply for the program.
WHAT RECORDS MUST I KEEP?
You are required to keep records of the following: the numbers of each meal (breakfast,
lunch, supper, snacks) you serve to enrolled children at each meal service, daily attendance at
the center during each meal service, daily menus for each meal type you serve that clearly
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show each food item, the number of complete second meals you serve to enrolled children
(when you serve second meals, this figure must be recorded separatelY from the other meals
you serve), and some program cost records. You must alao keep records that document the
enrollment of all children includi~ family size and income statements for chll~en in the free
and reduced-price categories. The administering agency n.ay require other records.
WILL I RECEIVE HELP FROM THE ADMINISTERING AGENCY?
The administering agency provides outside-school-hours care centers with help and advice on
operati~ the program. This includes traini~, written guidt.nce in the form of handbooks,
nutrition information, menu plaMing guides, reeordkeeping instructions, and training on
managi~ CCFP funds.
The administeri~ agency will also help you train food service staff to meet CCFP
requirements. Training should include information on: meal pattern requirements, types of
meals the center will serve, number of meals the center will serve, times the meals will be
delivered (if applicable), types of meal service records the center must keep, people to contact
when problems arise, and proper health and sanitation techniques to be used in storing,
prepa.ring, and serving meals.
WANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION?
In most States, the CCFP is administered by the State Department of Education. In States
that do not administer the program, FNS Regional Offices operute it directly. For additional
information, contact your State Department of Education, or write to the appropriate FNS
Regional Office below:
Northeast Regional Office, FNS, u.s. Department of Agriculture, 33 North Avenue,
Burlington, Massachusetts 01803
(Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and
Vermont)
Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, FNS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mercer Corporate Park,
Corporate Boulevard, CN 02150, Trenton, New Jersey 08650
(Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto
Rico, Virginia, Virgin Islan~, and West Virginia)
Southeast Regional Office, FNS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1100 Spring Street N. W.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30367
(Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
and Tennessee)
Midwest Regional Office, FNS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 50 E. Washington Street,
Chicago, Illinois 60602
(OJinois, Indiana, Michigan, MiMesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin)
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Southwest lt:'lonal Office, FNS, u.s. Department of Agriculture, 1100 Commerce Street,
Room 5-C- , Dallu, Texas 75242
(Arkansas, Louisl .. , New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas)
Mountain Plains Regional Office, FNS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2420 West 26th
Avenue, Room 430D, Denver, Colorado 80211
(Colcrado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South
Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming)
Western Regional Office, FNS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 550 Kearny Street, Room
400, San Francisco, C&lifomia 94108
(Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands, and Wash~ton).
The CCFP is available to all eligible children regardless of race, color, national origin,
sex, or handicap. If you believe that you have been treated unfairly in receiving food
services because of race, color, national origin, sex, or handicap, write immediately to
the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. More information may be
nbtalned from the Office of Equal Opportunity, USDA, Washington, D.C. 20250.
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FOOD CHART FOR CHILDREN
OUTSIDE-8CHOOL-HOURS CARE CENTERS
FOOD COMPONENTS
BREAKFA~T
Milk, fiuid2
Juice or fruit or vegetable
Bread 800/or cereal, 3 enriched or whole grain
Bread
Cereal
Cold dry
Hot cooked
MID-MORNING OR MIDAFTERNOON
SNACK
(Select 2 of these 4 components)
Milk, fiuid2
Meat or meat alternate
Juice or fruit or vegetable
Bread 800/or cereal, enriched or whole grain 3
Bread
Cereal
Cold dry
Hot cooked
LUNCH OR SUPPER
Milk, fiuid2
Meat or meat alternate:
Meat, poultry,
or fish (cooked)4 or
Cheese or
Egg or
Cooked dry beans or peas or
AGES 1
UPTO
3 YEARS
1/2 cup
1/4 cup
1/2 slice
1/4 cup or
1/3 ounce
1/4 cup
1/2 cup
1/2 ounce
1/2 cup
1/2 slice
1/4 cup or
1/3 ounce
1/4 cup
1/2 cup
1 ounce
1 ounce
1
1/4 cup
AGES 3
UPTO
6 YEARS
3/4 cup
1/2 cup
1/2 slice
1/3 cup or
1/2 ounce
1/4 cup
1/ 2 cup
1/2 ounce
1/2 cup
1/2 slice
1/3 cup or
1/2 ounce
1/4 cup
3/4 cup
1-1/2 ounces
1-1/2 ounces
1
3/8 cup
AGES 6
UPTO
12 YEARS1
1 cup
1/2 cup
1 slice
3/4 cup or
1 ounce
1/2 cup
1 cup
1 ounce
3/4 cup
1 slice
3/4 cup or
1 OW'lCe
1/2 cup
1 cup
2 ounces
2 ounces
1
1/2 cup
Peanut butter 5 Vegetable awJ/or fruit (to total)
2 tablespoons
1/4 cup
3 tablespoons
1/2 cup
4 tablespoons
3/4 cup
Bread, enriched or whole grain
3
1/2 slice
1
ChiJdren 12 yMI'I uw:l oJder may need larJer q~~a~~tltles or thae
foociJ.
2Jnclud• whole mUk, low fat mUk, lklm mUk, eultured buttermUk,
or llavored mUk made from theM typea of nuld milk whleh mHt
State uw:l loeal atlndltds.
30r an equiYalent Mnlnr or an aeeeptable bread product made or
enriched or whole rraln meal or nour, or enriched or wholf rraln
1/2 slice 1 slice
rlee or puta. S.e Uatlnr In FNH4, A PIIMIIII Guide for Food
Service In Child Care Centera, for servlfli sizes or aeeeptable
bread/breed alternates.
4Cookad lean meat withoUt bone.
5Muat Include at Iaiit two klnda.
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Home Economics and Household Collection
