Child Care Food Program

Research shows that well-nourished children are healthier, more attentive, and have better mental performance than children who are under-nourished. Findings also indicate that children served by the Child Care Food Program (CCFP) eat healthier food than children who bring food from home. The CCFP helps child care facilities implement "best practices" to ensure children have access to a variety of nutritious foods for healthy growth and to reduce obesity risk.

The CCFP and two related programs, the Afterschool Meals Program and the Homeless Children Nutrition Program, are administered by the Bureau of Child Care Food Programs. The Bureau reimburses participating organizations for nutritious meals and snacks provided to children in their care. Participating facilities include childcare centers, family day care homes, recreational centers, afterschool educational or enrichment programs and domestic violence and homeless/runaway shelters. All three programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.

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Management Information and Payment System (MIPS)

CCFP approved contractors can file their claim and download CCFP forms and documents by accessing MIPS. Further information about using MIPS to file claims can be found on the Claiming Instructions and Information page.

Find a Participating CCFP Provider

*Note: This page contains materials in the Microsoft Excel (XLS & XLSX) formats.

The following are lists of existing participants in the Child Care Food Program:

• Child Care Center Sites
• Afterschool Meals Program Sites
• Homeless Children Nutrition Program Sites
• Sponsors of Unaffiliated Child Care Centers
• Sponsors of Day Care Homes
• Sponsors of Unaffiliated Afterschool Meals Programs
• All Child Care Food Program Contractors

Becoming a Child Care Food Program Provider

To find out how your organization can participate in the Child Care Food Program, Afterschool Meals Program, or Homeless Children Nutrition Program, please visit the page on becoming a Child Care Food Program provider.

General Program Information

• Child Care Centers Fact Sheet
• Day Care Homes Fact Sheet
• Afterschool Meals Program Fact Sheet
• Homeless Children Nutrition Program Fact Sheet
• Income Eligibility Guidelines
• Complete Staff List

Florida Farm to Preschool for Early Care and Education Providers
Created by the Florida Departments of Health, Children and Families, and Agriculture and Consumer Services, this guide brings the farm to preschool with quick tips on outside play, school gardens and locally-produced foods.

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Emergency Food Service and Waiver Information

• Emergency Waiver Request Form
• Providing Food Service During Emergencies

BEFORE THE STORM

What can you do prior to event occurring?

• CCFP Contractors must have a written emergency preparedness plan that demonstrates how the organization will operate during an emergency and minimize the disruption of CCFP services to children in care. Maintain this plan at your organization.
• Ensure that contact information in MIPS is correct.
• Become familiar with the situations in the “Waivers” section below.
• Because communication systems may be down after a storm, take time now to print off several blank Waiver forms and keep them in different locations for possible use later.
• Plan menus using shelf-stable foods and purchase those items for use in case of an emergency.

WAIVERS

If any of the following occur, please contact the Tallahassee CCFP office or submit a waiver as soon as possible.

• Operating but unable to meet CCFP meal pattern requirements.
• Temporarily moving children to a different location.
• Unable to file claims by the claiming deadlines.
• Unable to maintain normal paperwork or computer systems, i.e. menus, meal counts, monitoring, etc.
• Destruction of any CCFP records - and/or previous 3 years.
• Caring for children residing in or evacuating from a designated disaster area.
• Caring for children residing in households receiving Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) benefits.
• Operating as an emergency shelter providing temporary housing.
• Providing meals to displaced children who, due to a disaster, are being temporarily housed in locations that may not be able to provide meals.

Sponsoring Organization

• Ensure that you have current contact information for all sites participating in your sponsorship.
• Disruptions to monitoring schedule that will cause the organization to be out of compliance must be reported via waiver.