CHILDCARE SERVICES
Child & Adult Care Food Program
Nutritious snacks and meals are served at the centers. Menus are posted weekly on the parent bulletin board. As a commitment to your child’s health, our childcare programs follow these guidelines in feeding your child:
Meals and snacks served to children will meet the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) meal pattern requirements, which are available upon request.
We serve reduced fat milk (1%). We will encourage a variety of healthy foods with emphasis on plenty of whole grain breads and cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, and protein from both animal and vegetable sources.
We will serve foods of high nutrient value. We will limit high fat and high sugar foods that are low in nutrient value, in an attempt to help children learn to enjoy healthy foods. Fruit juice will not be served. Children will always have access to drinking water.
We strive to make our mealtime environment pleasant. We believe that sitting and eating with children provides an opportunity for positive role modeling and social interaction.
We serve family style whenever possible because it is important for children to learn to serve themselves. We will never force, trick, or coerce a child into eating. We will honor the division of responsibility in feeding children, acknowledging that our role as caregivers is to provide nourishing food and it is the role of the child to decide how much or even whether to eat.
Our childcare + setting uses size appropriate furniture, utensils, and dishes at mealtime. Children will gain confidence in eating as they learn to eat successfully on their own.
Hands are always washed before all meals and snacks. Hands are also washed as staff, children, families, and visitors enter the center, after toileting, and prior to leaving the center.
Information about the Child and Adult Food Program
The CACFP is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that partially reimburses child care providers for serving nutritious meals to children in child care. USDA sets the regulations for the CACFP and in California, the CACFP is administered through the California Department of Education (CDE).
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
MAIL:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
FAX: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
EMAIL: Program.Intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.