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Resource | Research and Data Erroneous Payments In Childcare Centers Study (EPICCS)

The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 requires federal agencies, like FNS, to give Congress information about payment errors for federal programs, like CACFP. FNS planned this study to estimate payment errors in CACFP child care centers. However, after completing the study, FNS found an error in the method used to estimate nationwide findings from the study data. Because of the error, FNS is not publishing the full study, and will instead present key findings that relate to broad trends instead of specific estimates.

01/14/2025
Resource | Research and Data Feasibility Study: Calculating Meal Claiming Error in Family Day Care Homes That Participate in CACFP Using State Monitoring Review Data

We explored the feasibility of using existing data from state monitoring reviews – a process designed to assess operations and provide real-time technical assistance to family day care homes operating CACFP – to estimate the rate of improper payments in those operations. This study found that flexibility in these reviews and the information they report across states, while beneficial for their main purpose, made the resulting data unusable for estimating a national improper payment rate.

01/14/2025
Resource | Research and Data | Report to Congress Multi-Agency Task Force to Provide Coordination and Direction for USDA Foods Programs, July 2018 – December 2020

The Agricultural Act of 2014 required the establishment of a Multi-Agency Task Force to provide coordination and direction for USDA Foods administered by FNS. FNS submits this report to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture.

04/28/2023
Resource | Research and Data | Report to Congress Multi-Agency Task Force to Provide Coordination and Direction for USDA Foods Programs, January 2021 - July 2022

The Agricultural Act of 2014 required the establishment of a Multi-Agency Task Force to provide coordination and direction for USDA Foods administered by FNS. FNS submits this report covering the period of January 2021 through July 2022 to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture.

04/28/2023
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity CACFP Assessment of Sponsor Tiering Determinations - 2014

The 2014 Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): Assessment of Sponsor Tiering Determinations examines the accuracy of the classification of family day care homes (FDCHs) participating in the CACFP. In response to the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (IPERA) of 2010, the assessment provides estimates of the number of FDCHs in 2014 that were misclassified by sponsoring agencies into the wrong tier, and the resulting erroneous payments for meals and snacks reimbursed at the wrong rate.

10/14/2015
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity CACFP Assessment of Sponsor Tiering Determinations – 2013

This 2013 assessment of the family daycare homes (FDCHs) component of CACFP provides a national estimate of the share of the roughly 123,000 participating FDCHs that are approved for an incorrect level of per meal reimbursement, or reimbursement "tier" for their circumstances.

09/15/2014
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity CACFP Assessment of Sponsor Tiering Determinations 2012

The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 requires all federal agencies to calculate the amount of erroneous payments in federal programs and to periodically conduct detailed assessments of vulnerable program components. This 2012 assessment of the family daycare homes component of CACFP provides a national estimate of the share of the roughly 125,000 participating FDCHs that are approved for an incorrect level of per meal reimbursement, or reimbursement "tier" for their circumstances. 

08/28/2013
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity CACFP Assessment of Sponsor Tiering Determinations 2009

The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 requires all federal agencies to calculate the amount of erroneous payments in federal programs and to periodically conduct detailed assessments of vulnerable program components. 

06/30/2010
Resource | Research and Data | Payment Accuracy and Program Integrity CACFP Assessment of Sponsor Tiering Determinations 2008

The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 requires all federal agencies to calculate the amount of erroneous payments in federal programs and to periodically conduct detailed assessments of vulnerable program components. This is the fourth wave of a program assessment of the family day care homes in the Department of Agriculture's CACFP.

03/25/2010
Resource | Research and Data | Demonstrations CACFP Improper Payments Data Collection Pilot Project

The purpose of this pilot was to test possible methods that could lead to valid estimations of the number of meals served by family day care homes. The estimated number of meals served can be used to develop estimates of over- and under-counts of meal claims that result in erroneous payments.

09/23/2009
Page updated: May 22, 2025