Child and Adult Care Food Program

Planning Healthy Meals and Snacks Using the Meal Patterns

The Child and Adult Care Food Program is a USDA federally funded program administered by the RI Department of Education. It is designed to provide nutritious meals and snacks to eligible children and adults attending qualifying day care (non-residential) facilities.

Sponsors are reimbursed for snacks and meals served which meet USDA guidelines.

The program operates in child care centers, outside-school-hours care centers, family and group day care homes, homeless shelters, and adult day care centers.

All snacks and meals must meet the requirements of the CACFP Meal Patterns and be served at no cost to the children and adults.

The CACFP is administered nationally by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and governed by Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR) Part 226. The Department of Education, Child Nutrition Programs administers it in RI.

For additional program information contact 

Tiffany Leyda

401-222-4698

or

Ashley Speckman

401-222-8701

For additional CACFP information, see the USDA CACFP page.

For USDA program updates, visit Food and Nutrition Service.

Annual Renewal for Current CACFP Sponsors

In September each year, CACFP Sponsors start the annual renewal process. In August, each Sponsor will be asked to complete the form below and return it to RIDE. The form should be scanned and emailed. 

Once this form has been received by RIDE we will contact you with more instructions to complete the annual renewal process.  

This year's renewal process will take place in RIDE's new Child Nutrition Programs online application and claiming system

All Current Sponsors

Must complete the following form by the date indicated by RIDE:

Annual Sponsor Update

Indicate on this form:

  • If you are removing any users from CNP Connect
  • Who in your organization should be receiving RIDE communications
  • If you have closed any sites
  • If you are adding new sites

SPONSORS ADDING NEW USERS TO CNP CONNECT

  • Complete the "Delegation of Authority Level 1" form if you want new users to approve or submit data and information through CNP Connect.  This must be approved by an existing Level 1 User.

Complete the "Delegation of Authority Level 2" form if you want new users to enter data into CNP Connect.  This must be approved by an existing Level 1 User.

Budgeting for the FY22 Renewal Process

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact:

Jessica Patrolia

401-222-4253

Roxanne Booth

401-222-4698

Ashley Speckman

401-222-8701

Interested in becoming a CACFP sponsor? Take our CACFP Sponsor Eligibility Quiz. As you respond to simple questions, the guide will provide information on your eligibility to become a CACFP Sponsor.

If your organization is eligible, the first step to becoming a new Sponsor is to attend new Sponsor training, which is held bi-annually, typically in January and July. 

To register for new Sponsor training, contact Jessica Patrolia at:

jessica.patrolia@ride.ri.gov

For more information on the process and requirements for becoming a new CACFP Sponsor, please review the following resources:

RIDE Recorded Trainings & Webinars

CACFP Overview 

Descripción general de CACFP

At-Risk Meals

Meal Pattern

Feeding Infants in the CACFP (English & Spanish)

General CACFP Requirements

Food Business License and Food Safety 

CACFP Additional Trainings

CORE-CACFP Financial Viability Online Course

To access the CORE-CACFP Financial Viability Online Course, please register below. The enrollment key is CORE. https://core-cacfponline.com

This course is: 

  • Animated
  • Self-Paced
  • Interactive
  • Informative

Welcome to the Child and Adult Care Food Program Documents, Resources and Helpful Links. This section includes RIDE issued documents, and additional resource, document and links from a variety of sources related to this USDA Program.

Resources

Procurement

Nutrition Resources

Civil Rights

USDA Program Specific Handbooks

Monitoring Handbooks

Record Keeping and Templates

Template Policies & Procedures

RIDE Policies

Forms

Links to Helpful Websites

General CACFP Meal Pattern:

Infant Meal Pattern:

Grains:

Meat and Meat Alternates:

Milk, Fruits and Vegetables

Each quarter, the Rhode Island Department of Education's, CACFP releases a newsletter to keep Sponsors and community partners throughout the State up-to-date and engaged in the CACFP.

Early childhood is the ideal time to establish healthy eating habits. Farm to preschool works to connect early child care and education settings to local food producers with the objectives of serving locally-grown, healthy foods to young children, providing related nutrition education, and improving child nutrition. Farm to preschool activities can increase children’s willingness to try new foods and help them become familiar with local foods they will see in school. Farm to preschool creates a reliable outlet for producers and the smaller purchasing volumes for early child care settings are a good fit for local farmers.

Below are resources to facilitate your Farm to Preschool program:

The Reimbursement and Claims section provides information on USDA reimbursement rates, and RIDE's CNP Connect secure claims processing and management system.

See current USDA Reimbursement Rates.

In order to budget your reimbursement for the year, please use the provided reimbursement calculator.

CNP Connect includes a secure section for processing meal claims.  For additional information on filing meal claims, visit the CNPConnect site.

How to Obtain a DUNS Number

A D-U-N-S Number, a unique nine digit identification number for your business. D-U-N-S Number assignment is FREE for all businesses required to register with the US Federal government for contracts or grants. 

Request your D-U-N-S Number via the Web

SAM Quick Start Guide

This section provides local and national data on the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and information about fiscal aspects of the Program.