The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 requires federal agencies, like FNA, to give Congress information about payment errors for federal programs, like CACFP. FNA planned this study to estimate payment errors in CACFP child care centers. However, after completing the study, FNA found an error in the method used to estimate nationwide findings from the study data. Because of the error, FNA is not publishing the full study, and will instead present key findings that relate to broad trends instead of specific estimates.
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.
This report describes the first national study of emergency shelters participating in CACFP. The objective of this study was to gain a general understanding of the characteristics of CACFP emergency shelters, who they serve, how CACFP fits into their operations, and their challenges with CACFP.
The third annual survey of School Food Authorities found that 95 percent of SFAs faced supply-chain related challenges in school year (SY) 2023-24, but that the number of reported challenges and impacts they have on school food service have largely declined compared to SY 2022-23. This report is the third in the series and, like the others, reports findings from a 20-minute online questionnaire sent to all SFAs operating child nutrition programs in schools to gather information on the impacts of continued supply chain challenges
Adult day care centers have been eligible to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) since 1987. The objective of this study is to better understand key characteristics of adult day care centers participating in CACFP.
This study examines the characteristics of current and former CACFP participants among family day care home providers using a nationally representative survey. It examines patterns of CACFP enrollment, perceptions of CACFP, challenges to participating in CACFP, and recommendations for improving the program. Former participants were defined as ones who had participated in 2019 and were no longer operating by 2023. The main reason they cited for leaving CACFP was because they were no longer operating as childcare providers.
The program participation dashboard is an interactive tool that provides FNA nutrition program data, including participation and meals served, at the state, territory, and national levels.
This data collection fulfills states’ reporting requirements and describes trends in program participation during the COVID-19 pandemic from July 2020 through Dec. 2021. It is part of an ongoing study series examining CN program operations, repurposed to collect waiver reports from all states. A previous report in the series detailed waiver usage and trends in program participation and operations from March through Sept. 2020.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNA research has learned through more than a decade of study.
The goal of the dashboard is to provide national and state level visualization of meals served, participation, and funding data for the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and Summer Food Service Program. The dashboard can be used by federal, state, and local organizations to assess trends in child nutrition program activity.