In June 2022, Congress took bold and quick action to pass the Keep Kids Fed Act. Congress passed this bipartisan legislation to respond to the ongoing fallout of the COVID -19 pandemic on child nutrition programs in schools and child care.
What did it do?
The Keep Kids Fed Act:
Enabled child care centers, Head Start and family child care programs participating in CACFP to receive an additional 10 cents for every creditable CACFP meal or snack served (two meals and one snack or two snacks and one meal).
Eliminated, for one more year, area eligibility for family child care providers. All family child care providers were paid Tier I rates (the highest rate possible) regardless of where their homes were located or their own income or the income of the families for whom they care.
Enabled USDA to extend no-cost nationwide waivers throughout school year 2022-2023 as well as meal pattern waivers.
All of these things are changing. Advocates across the nation have come together write a national organization sign-on letter to tell Congress to take action and extend these vital supports.
We also, together, created tools to distribute to providers and centers about these changes, particularly ensuring an understanding of the change in reimbursement.
Use this toolkit to communicate with the CACFP community about the financial implications of the expiration of the Keep Kids Fed Act.
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