The Adult Day Care (ADC) component of the CACFP is a federal nutrition program designed to provide nutritious meals to elderly or functionally-impaired adults in adult day care centers. In New Jersey, the program is administered by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Food and Nutrition.

Who Can Participate

The ADC component of the CACFP is available to public and private nonprofit agencies who provide licensed or approved nonresidential day care. Licensed or approved proprietary (i.e. for profit) centers that receive Title XIX or Title XX funding (from the Social Security, Act) for at least 25 percent of their enrolled, nonresident participants also qualify. Organizations participating in the ADC include, but are not limited to, medical day care centers, partial care centers, Alzheimer’s programs and state-operated centers.

Centers can operate in the program either independently or under the auspices of a sponsoring organization which accepts final administrative and financial responsibility for the program.

Applying to the Child and Adult Care Food Program, an emergency shelter must provide residential and food services to homeless children and their parents or guardians. Some shelters in New Jersey may need to be licensed. If not, a shelter must meet any health and safety codes that are required by state or local law.

A homeless shelter or a temporary residential site sponsored by a shelter, or another public or private nonprofit agency, is eligible to participate in CACFP. A shelter operated by a proprietary organization may also be eligible. A shelter may complete an application and sign an agreement with the state administering agency, or it may participate as a facility under an existing CACFP sponsoring organization.

Children 18 years of age and younger and residents of any age who have disabilities, in residential emergency facilities may receive up to three reimbursable meals each day, on weekdays and weekends. Residential children who receive their meals at the shelter are automatically eligible for free meals and snacks. There are no application forms for their parents or guardians to complete. All reimbursable meals and snacks are served in group settings, at no cost to the child or to the child’s parents or guardians.

Homeless shelters receive payments for serving meals and snacks, which meet Federal nutritional guidelines, to eligible children. The maximum payment rates are based on the numbers of meals and snacks served at the free rate for day care centers. Shelters also receive commodities or cash- in-lieu of commodities for each CACFP lunch or supper they serve.

Eligibility Criteria

An adult day care center must also meet three criteria established by U.S.D.A.:

1. The primary purpose must be to provide day care services to elderly persons 60 years of age or older, or chronically impaired disabled persons, 18 years of age or older;
2. The nonresidential community-based center must be licensed or approved by state or local government agencies;
3. The center must provide a structured, comprehensive program of health and social services as well as an individual plan of care for each participant.

Some centers are not eligible because their overriding purpose is to provide employment and developmental opportunities, dispel loneliness, and furnish better housing or additional income. They include:

• Residential institutions such as nursing homes, residential health care facilities and state institutions;
• Centers receiving Title III funds for meals to all participants;
• Vocational rehabilitation centers, substance abuse centers and sheltered workshops.

Reimbursement for Meal Service

As participants in the ADC component of the CACFP, an organization may be reimbursed for up to three meals for each enrolled participant per day. These meals may be any combination except breakfast, lunch and dinner. For example, each participant may be served breakfast, lunch and a supplement.

The meals claimed for reimbursement must meet U.S.D.A. nutritional standards and follow a meal pattern based on choices from the four food groups: 1) milk, 2) bread or grain products, 3) meat or protein and 4) fruit or vegetables.

In New Jersey, federal reimbursement for meal service in adult day care centers is provided through the State Department of Agriculture. Payments are made based on monthly claims for reimbursement which report the number of meals served the preceding month.

Sponsors may also choose to receive surplus commodities which are items which U.S.D.A. has stockpiled beyond the normal storage capacity. They include items such as beef, chicken, cheese, butter, flour, fruit, beans, rice, oats, honey and nuts. Sponsors who opt for surplus commodities receive about 12 cents less for each lunch and dinner served. However, they often receive twice that amount in food value.

Record Keeping

As a sponsor of an adult food program center your record keeping responsibilities include:

• Keeping records of your food and food related costs.
• Collecting eligibility applications from the participants annually.
• Keeping daily attendance records for enrolled participants.
• Keeping a daily count of the meals served.

Child and Adult Care Food Program The After School CACFP “At-Risk” Program

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides cash reimbursement for after-school snacks/meals served at eligible after- school programs. This program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is administered by the Division of Food and Nutrition of the New Jersey State Department of Agriculture.

Which After School Programs Are Eligible?

• The program must be operated by a public or private nonprofit organization.
  • Proprietary organizations may also be eligible and should contact State agency for additional information.
• The intent of the program must be to provide after-school care.
  In addition, programs must offer regularly scheduled educational or enrichment activities that are structured and supervised.
• Sites where after-school care programs are offered must meet state or local health and safety standards, but may not need to be licensed as child care centers by the NJ Office of Licensing.
• Program sites must be located in an area served by a school in which at least 50 percent of the enrolled participants are eligible for free or reduced price meals.

Available Funding

The After-School At-Risk Snack/Meal Program will reimburse up to one snack and one meal served to each eligible participant per day.

• Each snack/meal must be served free of charge and will be reimbursed at the applicable free rate of reimbursement per participant per day.
• Snacks/meals are served to school age participants up through age 18 and certain participants over age 18 are eligible to receive funding.
• Reimbursement is available for snacks/meals served after school, on holidays and weekends during the regular school year only. At- Risk snacks/meals may not be claimed during the summer months.

Nutritional Requirements

Snacks served to participants must meet U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional requirements. To qualify, a snack must include two (2) of the four meal pattern components (milk, fruit/vegetable, meat/meat alternate, grain/bread) in amounts specified by age. For example, the following would meet the requirements for a snack:

• Yogurt and graham crackers
• Salsa and tortillas
• Fresh fruit and soft pretzels
• Oatmeal cookies and 100% juice
• String cheese and apple slices
• Peanut butter crackers and milk

Meals* served to participants must meet U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional requirements. To qualify, a lunch/dinner meal must include five (5) of the four meal pattern components (milk, 2 different fruits/vegetables, meat/meat alternate, grain/bread) in amounts specified by age. For example, the following would meet the requirements for a lunch/dinner meal:

• Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce
• Tossed Salad
• Fruit Cocktail
• Spaghetti
• Italian Bread
• BBQ Chicken
• Baked Potato
• Broccoli
• Biscuit
• Milk

*A Breakfast meal must include three (3) of the four meal pattern components (milk, fruit/vegetable, grain/bread) in amounts specified by age.

The primary goal of the CACFP is to improve the diet of children 12 years of age or younger. Children 15 and under from families of migrant workers are also eligible, and certain disabled people regardless of age may receive CACFP meals if they are enrolled in a center that serves mostly persons 18 years of age or younger.

Nutrition is an important part of good health. Proper nutrition is also an important part of a good child care program. Children need well-balanced meals in order to meet their daily energy needs and to help them build strong bodies and minds. Through the CACFP, you can be assured that your child is getting balanced, nutritious meals. As participants in the CACFP, child care organizations may serve up to three meals a day to each child. If three meals are served, at least one of them must be a snack. All of the meals must follow patterns set by USDA.

There are two groups of meal patterns. The first group is for infants through 11 months. Foods in these patterns vary according to the infant's age. Infants from four through seven months old may receive some, but not all, of the foods in the meal pattern below. Solid foods are not required for infants seven months of age or younger. The second group of patterns is for children over one year of age.

The CACFP gives financial assistance to public and private nonprofit organizations providing licensed or approved nonresidential day care service throughout the country. Organizations participating in the CACFP include, but are not limited to, day care centers and institutions providing day care services for disabled children. Also, private for-profit centers that receive compensation under Title XX of the Social Security Act for at least 25 percent of the children who are receiving non-residential day care OR that care for enrolled children at least 25% of which are eligible for free or reduced price meals, may qualify as eligible child care institutions. Sponsoring organizations can operate the CACFP in child care centers and school-age child care centers.

Centers can operate in the program either independently or under the auspices of a sponsoring organization. The sponsoring organization must accept final administrative and financial responsibility for centers under its auspices. In each state, the CACFP is operated by a State administering agency.

The U.S Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.)

If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http;//www.ascr.usda.gov/compiainlfilingcust.html. or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.imake@usda.gov.

For additional information regarding the CACFP in New Jersey, please contact: NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Division of Food and Nutrition CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM

P.O. BOX 334
TRENTON NJ 08625-0334
Telephone: (609) 984-1250

If you have questions about any of USDA’s nutrition assistance programs, check the information on the USDA web site, http://www.fns.usda.gov/.