CACFP Administrative Manual Section 2.1
Section 2: Participant Eligibility
Section 2.1: Enrollment
To claim reimbursement for meals and snacks served:
- Day Care Home (DCH) providers and childcare center (CC) staff must have complete and current documentation verifying that participants are enrolled for care; and
- DCH sponsors and CC staff must have the complete, current, signed and dated enrollment documentation on file for each participant prior to submitting the claim for reimbursement to the California Department of Social Services.
Meals served to children or adults who do not have complete and current enrollment documents on file with the sponsor or independent center are not eligible for reimbursement.
Definition of Enrollment
An enrolled child is a child whose parent or guardian must have submitted a signed document to an agency that indicates the child is enrolled for child care. Refer to 7 CFR, Section 226.2 “Enrolled child” for the complete definition.
An enrolled adult means a person enrolled in an Adult Day Care (ADC) who must have submitted a document, signed either by them or an adult household member, to an agency that indicates the adult is enrolled for adult care.
Collecting Enrollment Documentation
Day Care Homes and Child Care Centers
DCH providers and CC centers staff must collect and maintain documentation of enrollment from parents/guardians. Program regulations state that a child’s enrollment document must:
- Be updated annually—the enrollment form is valid from the original date the parent/guardian signs the document until the end of the 12-month period (i.e., if a child enrolls on August 15, the enrollment form is valid from August 15 of the current year to August 31 of the following year).
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Be signed and dated by the child’s parent or guardian.
- Include information about each child’s normal days and hours of care and the meals the child usually receives while in care.
If a DCH or CC maintains accurate, daily sign-in/sign-out sheets that identify the time a child arrives and leaves the center or home (as certified by the parent or authorized representative of the parent), enrollment forms do not have to state the normal days and hours that a child is in care or meals consumed at the center or home. Emergency shelters, school age centers, and sites participating in the At-risk Afterschool Meals Component of the CACFP, are exempt from the enrollment requirements.
Adult Day Care Centers
Adult Day Care (ADC) Centers must collect and maintain documentation of the enrollment of each adult. Enrollment documents for adults enrolled in ADC centers are valid from the time they are signed by the adult/adult household member and are valid so long as the adult participant is enrolled for care. The requirement to update enrollment documents annually does not apply to ADC centers.
Program regulations state that an adult’s enrollment documentation must:
- Record the age of each participant;
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Show that each participant under the age of 60 meets the functional impairment eligibility requirements (see Section 2.2); and
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Record whether a participant resides in their own home or in a group living arrangement.
Recordkeeping
DCH Sponsors must ensure that providers are collecting documentation of enrollment as required. The sponsor may keep duplicate copies of documentation to store at a central location.
Center sponsors may collect and maintain these required enrollment forms or ensure that center staff are collecting and maintaining documentation. Regardless of whether these documents are stored at the site or at the sponsor’s office, they must be readily available during a review or audit.
Eligibility Roster
All enrolled children and eligible enrolled adults must be included on the eligibility roster.
Drop-in Care in Day Care Homes
Children who receive care on a drop-in basis in DCHs must have a current enrollment form on file in order to be claimed for reimbursement. Drop-in care children might include older siblings who are only cared for during school vacations, or any eligible child who is typically cared for by the parent or guardian but is occasionally brought to the DCH.
References: 7 CFR, Sections 226.2, 226.13, 226.15(e)(2), 226.15(e)(3), 226.17(b)(8), 226.18(e), 226.19a(b)(8), and 226.19a(b)(10); and MB 06-221 Second Interim Rule: Enrollment Records and Block Claiming.
Questions: A list of program specialists that can assist is found on the CACFP Contact List.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Esta institución es un proveedor que ofrece igualdad de oportunidades.