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Program Review

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is underutilized in Sacramento county.

The CACFP is desiqned to ensure the availability of nutritious meals for children up to age 12 in child care settings and to the elderly and/or certain adult handicapped individuals who participate in a nonprofit, licensed or approved nonresidential adult day care program. At the federal level the CACFP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. The California Department of Education (CDE) manages the program on the state level. According to data provided by the CDE, there were 30 sponsors of the CACFP for children and one sponsor for adults in Sacramento County in April 1991.

In the spring of 1991 the Sacramento City/County Hunger Commission distributed surveys to these thirty-one aqencies. Ten responded with information about daily attendance figures and numbers of meals served during a recent month (see Appendix A). Community Child Care, Inc. is a local umbrella sponsor for CACFP, and administered the food program for 838 family day care homes and 5 local child care centers, as of March 1991. According to this large local sponsor, during the month of March 1991 the agencies
they support served 59,841 breakfasts, 71,128 lunches, 92,322 snacks, and 9,956 dinners for a total of 233,237 meals/snacks in one month.

The other CACFP sponsors reported monthly service f igures, but the months chosen ranged from March through May 1991. An agregate monthly total for these agencies would represent approximately 8,073 breakfasts, 11,436 lunches, 8,373 snacks, and 3,131 dinners for a total of 31,013 meals served among all nine agencies.

Despite these large service figures the CACFP is underutilized locally. According to Child Action, Inc., in March 1991 there were a total of 2,102 licensed family day care homes and child care centers in Sacramento County. With only 853 area providers participating in the CACFP, there is definitely room for expansion in this program locally. Outreach to child care providers not yet participating in the CACFP is needed.

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