The attached memorandum is intended for immediate distribution to state agencies in your region. Dissemination of this memorandum without changes will ensure uniform implementation of these legislative provisions.
In this letter, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service urges state agencies to strengthen program integrity in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) by implementing robust oversight, training, and monitoring measures to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.
In this program guidance, Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke L. Rollins, strongly encourages child nutrition program operators to familiarize themselves with the key recommendations and consider how the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 can be incorporated into program meals and snacks to promote healthy outcomes and healthy families.
This memorandum provides notice to child nutrition program operators regarding the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (the 2025 Appropriations Act), March 15, 2025. This applies to state agencies administering, and local organizations operating, the USDA FNS child nutrition programs.
The purpose of this memorandum is to remind schools, sponsors, and institutions participating in any USDA Child Nutrition Program, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Special Milk Program for Children , Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Seamless Summer Option , of the many ways they can purchase local foods to serve in program meals.
In the Summer Food Service Program, parent or guardian pick-up is a meal service option for which approved sponsors may distribute meals to parents or guardians to take home to their children.
In the Summer Food Service Program, site proximity refers to the minimum distance between approved sites, based on population density and accessibility to participants.
To maintain program integrity and ensure the site is meeting the intended purpose, site caps for rural non-congregate meal sites must accurately reflect the needs of the targeted rural communities being served.
This memorandum provides additional clarification on questions received from state agencies and program stakeholders. It also includes guidance on integrity measures for non-congregate meal service operations.
On April 25, 2024, FNS published the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans that included minor updates to CACFP and SFSP to better align child nutrition program requirements. These updates represent continued progress toward supporting the nutritional quality of school meals, strengthening the CNPs, and advancing USDA’s commitment to nutrition security.