Integrity in the Child and Adult Care Food Program

The food program was established to ensure children in day care will receive proper nutrition for all meals and snacks.

Each day, 4.2 million children receive nutritious meals and snacks through the CACFP.

Day care homes receive cash reimbursement for serving meals/snacks to enrolled children that meet federal nutritional guidelines.

In order to participate in the food program each day care home provider signs a Permanent Agreement with a Sponsor Organization (Illinois Child Care Bureau) which details the program’s rules and regulations including offering meals/ snacks that meet the USDA nutrition guidelines as well as recording meals and attendance daily.

Day care homes must be licensed or license-exempt approved to provide day care services.

As a CACFP participant, providers must adhere to: serving meals/snacks that meet USDA guidelines, record meals/ snacks daily, record attendance daily, submit monthly claim to their sponsor organization in a timely manner and claim reimbursement based on eligible meals/snacks for children enrolled in the program.

Corrective action procedures ensure that providers know the areas where correction or improvement is necessary in order to be in compliance with CACFP policies, rules and regulations.

In order to successfully participate in the food program, all corrective actions must be resolved without repeat of the same issue.

A corrective action may be given for not maintaining daily menus and attendance, not advising the sponsor organization when the day care home is not opened or when the children will not be in the home during a meal/snack serving time, not completing mandatory training within the stated timeframe, not enrolling a child in the food program whether or not they are claimed on the program, not serving age -appropriate milk, not having children and a meal/snack served during  a home visit, having less children present than normally claimed during a home visit, being over license capacity or other issues.

If the action is not permanently corrected and is found at a subsequent visit, the corrective action will move to the day care home being seriously deficient in their operation of the food program.

One of the most common reasons for a provider to be made seriously deficient in their operation of the food program is because records are not up to date.  Menus and attendance MUST be recorded daily.

Accurate claiming patterns will show that approximately the same number of children are in attendance during a home visit as are claimed regularly by the provider.  During a home visit, the Program Advisor is required to review attendance for the previous five days to establish a claiming pattern.

All day care home providers must be in compliance with current DCFS regulations and guidelines which include license capacity and sanitation/ safety.  Program Advisors are mandated reporters which means all observed violations must be communicated to DCFS.

The day care home provider is responsible for maintaining all records even if an assistant completes the menus and attendance.

Each day care home provider is given the ILLINOIS CHILD CARE BUREAU PROVIDER GUIDEBOOK.  Program rules, regulations, policies and procedures are detailed in this book.

Participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is voluntary.

Day care homes must submit accurate monthly claims for reimbursement to their sponsor organization.  Reimbursement is not allowed for meals/snacks that are: served to a child who is not enrolled for care; served in excess of licensed or authorized capacity; not approved in the agreement; served in excess of the maximum number of approved meals or out of compliance with meal pattern requirements.

The number of children in the day care home must not exceed the capacity stated on the day care home provider’s license.

The day care home provider must call/email the ICCB office when the day care home will be closed or when the children and the provider will not be in the home during a meal/snack serving time.  KidKare users may indicate when the day care business will be closed on their Calendar.

If a provider is not home at the time the Program Advisor arrives, the result is a corrective action.  If a provider has more than one occurrence, then the issue will escalate to serious deficiency.