New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)

Program Overview

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) was established for child care centers in 1968 under Section 16 of the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act.

CACFP provides aid to child and adult care institutions and family or group day care homes for the provision of nutritious foods that contribute to the wellness, healthy growth, and development of young children, and the health and wellness of older adults and chronically impaired disabled persons.

Through CACFP, more than 3.3 million children and 120,000 adults receive nutritious meals and snacks each day as part of the daycare they receive.

Child Care Centers-licensed or approved public or private nonprofit child daycare centers, head start programs, and for-profit centers serve meals to large numbers of children. Family Day Care Homes-small groups of children (6 or less) receive non-residential daycare in approved private homes following the meal patterns established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

• Breakfast requires a serving of milk, fruit or vegetable, and bread or grain product.
• Lunch and dinner consist of milk, bread or grain product, meat or meat alternate, and two different servings of fruits and/or vegetables.
• Snacks include servings from two or the four components: milk, fruits or vegetables, bread or grain product, or meat or meat alternate.

The New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is administered by the New Hampshire Department of Education in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program works by providing meals at subsidized prices to these centers to help them improve the quality of food. Approved child care centers in New Hampshire provide meals and snacks through CACFP. Family day care homes provide meals and snacks to small groups of children receiving nonresidential daycare in licensed or approved private homes. Emergency shelter providers also offer residential and food services to homeless families through the program to age group 18 and younger. Various public, private nonprofit, and some for-profit adult day care facilities which provide structured, comprehensive services to functionally impaired, or adults over age 60 can participate in CACFP.

Program Objectives

The main goal of the New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program is to make meals more accessible by making it affordable to families in need. The families living on a fixed budget cannot afford regular food and other expenses. The CACFP program helps such families to afford nutritious meals without compromising on the health of their children. This leads them to live a healthy lifestyle by incorporating healthy and nutritious food in their diet. Those healthy food items are given daily to the applicants which helps improve the daycare center conditions.

Program Benefits

The individual’s interest in the New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program has to find a child daycare center or adult day care center in their locality that participates in the CACFP program to avail the program’s benefits. It is important to check if the daycare center is participating in the New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program. You can visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture web page to take further information about the program benefits.

In breakfast, the participants are provided with a serving of milk along with a fruit or vegetable or food that is rich in grains. For lunch is dinner, the meal includes meat or its alternative for people who are vegan or cannot have meat for certain medical reasons. Along with that, the meal contains milk, grain, or bread, and there is an option between fruits and vegetables. For snacks, there is an option to choose from fruits, vegetables, grain, or meat.

Eligibility Requirements

Certain factors determine your eligibility for the New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program and if you fulfill those requirements you can qualify for the program’s benefits. Those include,

• Children age 12 and under
• Migrant children age 15 and younger
• Youths through age 18 in the Area Eligible Snack Program and emergency shelters
• Functionally impaired children through age 18 in child care centers or daycare homes.
• Functionally impaired adult participants or adults age 60 and older enrolled in an adult daycare center

Eligibility data for program applicants that want to participate in the CACFP is based on the area eligibility and income eligibility categories for those who will be served by the CACFP.

How to Apply

The applicant can use different methods to apply for the New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program. It makes the whole process very flexible and applicants can choose the method easier for them. If the applicant is interested in submitting their application in person, they can visit the nearby office. You can locate centers by accessing official CACFP resources. The application process takes very little time and once you finish the form you can wait for your confirmation number which will be provided to you shortly afterward. It is advisable to apply before the due date to be able to get the benefits of the New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program.

For Further Information

For more information, you can visit the New Hampshire Child and Adult Care Food Program page. The web pages provide complete and accurate information about the program. The above-mentioned web page will help you learn more about the program and its requirements related to the application process and eligibility criteria, the program’s working procedure, the types of meals served, and more. To get more details you can visit USDA Child and Adult Care Food page.

You may also call at (603) 271-3494 for more information.