Information Collection: Family Day Care Home Participation Study

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), plays a critical role in supporting the health and wellness of children by reimbursing providers for nutritious meals served to eligible children in their care. The FDCH Participation Study aims to understand FDCH provider experiences with the CACFP by asking a nationally representative sample of both current and former CACFP-participating FDCH providers about their experiences with the program.

Data collection will occur during the spring of 2023. The primary data collection activity will include the FDCH Provider Experience Survey, designed to gather information from FDCH providers to address the three main objectives for the study:

1. Identify and describe the reasons why FDCH providers discontinue their participation in CACFP;
2. Determine and describe CACFP program statutory and regulatory requirements, operational and financial considerations, and federal, state, and local specifics frequently cited as burdensome by stakeholders. Classify challenges as federal, state, and local and describe in detail; and
3. Gather and summarize recommendations from FDCH providers on how to reduce barriers or challenges to CACFP participation.

The sample frame for this study will consist of all FDCH providers listed in FNS' list of CACFP-participating providers for program years 2019 and 2022. The sampling frame will be created by comparing the 2019 list of providers with the 2022 list. Those FDCH providers included only on the 2019 list will be the frame of former participants. Those that are on the 2022 list will form the frame of current participants. The survey will include a screener to verify CACFP participation status of the providers and ask follow-up questions related to their experiences—including reasons they discontinued their CACFP participation, program factors they consider burdensome, and recommendations to facilitate CACFP participation for FDCH providers. In addition to comparing responses by the current and former CACFP participants, results will be compared by the following subgroups: Tier status (Tier I/II), program size (small/large), and urbanicity (urban/rural).