Participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program: New Estimates andProspects for Growth

摘要

New tabulations of data suggest that less than one-half of all eligible childcare centers and early education programs participated in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Participation by family child care providers in the CACFP was significantly higher--over 75 percent of eligible family child care providers participated in the CACFP in 1990. To assist the Food and Nutrition Service in assessing the implications of current trends in child care and the new child care legislation for the CACFP, this report presents new tabulations of recent national data, suggests further analyses of existing data that can be conducted to further investigate key issues, and summarizes and assesses key features of new child care legislation and its possible implications for the CACFP. It begins by examining eligibility for and participation in the CACFP. It then discusses the new legislation and its prospects for affecting CACFP participation.