The California Department of Social Services became the State Agency to oversee the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which was previously managed by the California Department of Education, effective July 1, 2021. This administrative change to the program was initiated by the Budget Act of Fiscal Year 2021 in alignment with the State's goal to build and strengthen equitable, comprehensive, quality, and affordable child care and development systems for the children and families in California. The Nutrition Policy Institute will work with the CACFP Roundtable to identify barriers experienced by child care centers that work directly with the state or through a sponsoring organization and child care center sponsors in accessing CACFP in order to inform recommendations for improvement. The six-month project began in September 2021 and is lead by Nutrition Policy Institute principal investigator and director, Lorrene Ritchie, in collaboration with NPI researchers Danielle Lee, Christina Hecht, and Claudia Olague.
Editor - Director of the Nutrition Policy Institute and Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist