Celebrating Child and Adult Care Food Program Week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Danielle Jones
(803) 898-7248

Danielle.Jones@dss.sc.gov

March 13, 2020 – The South Carolina Department of Social Services (SC DSS) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) recognizes March 15 through March 21 as CACFP Week. The federally funded program provides meal reimbursements to child and adult care centers, child care homes, afterschool programs and emergency shelters for serving nutritious snacks and meals.

“CACFP strengthens families in South Carolina by increasing their access to healthy food,” said Mary Abney-Young, program manager with the Division of Early Care and Education.

The program is netting many successes. Lauren Willis with Preschool at Holly Springs Center in Pickens County said, “Our adopting the CACFP menu requirements has made a tremendous difference for our facility. We've had significantly fewer behavior problems, everyone is napping better, and I've been thrilled to see our pickiest of eaters trying new foods.  I'm so encouraged and excited!”

Any licensed child or adult care center can apply to participate in the program. The application must demonstrate the entity meets eligibility requirements and is capable of properly operating the program. Employees must also attend training on program requirements.

SC DSS has administered the program since 1985. Approximately 1,300 child and adult care programs in South Carolina participate in CACFP, receiving over 19 million healthy meals annually.

To learn more about CACFP, please visit http://bit.ly/2mFE9kN or go to https://www.scchildcare.org/news/.  For more on events happening throughout week https://www.scchildcare.org/news/celebrate-cacfp-week/.