CACFP Participation by Facilities with "Special" Family Child Care Licenses - 2/18/2000
651/582-8526 800/366-8922
FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE
1999-00 POLICY MEMORANDUM
DATE: February 18, 2000
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TO: SPONSORING AUTHORITIES of Child and Adult Care Food Program R Family Child Care R Child Care Centers |
FROM: Mary Begalle, Director Food and Nutrition Service |
SUBJECT: CACFP Participation by Facilities with "Special" Family Child Care Licenses
Policy
Part I Eligibility of Certain Family Child Care "Homes" as Child Care Centers A child care facility that has a "special" family child care license issued by DHS under authority of Minnesota Statutes section 245A.14, subdivision 4, or a similar license issued by a tribal authority, and is either:
(1) not located in a home, or
(2) licensed to an employer or other organization,
is not eligible to participate in the CACFP as a family child care home.
These types of child care facilities generally are eligible to participate in the CACFP as centers (i.e., these facilities meet the CACFP definition of "child care center"). (Note regarding participation by for-profit organizations: CACFP regulations allow participation by for-profit organizations only if at least 25 percent of the children in care receive child care assistance from the county.)
Part II Special Family Child Care Licenses Meet Center Licensing Requirement A "special family child care license" issued for the types of facilities described above by DHS under authority of Minnesota Statutes section 245A.14, subdivision 4, or a similar license issued by a tribal authority, meets the CACFP licensing requirement for a child care center.
Action Required
• A child care facility that (1) has a "special" family child care license or similar license from a tribal authority, and (2) does not qualify to participate in the family child care component of the CACFP, may apply directly to FNS for CACFP participation as a child care center.
Background
• Although family child care licenses are most often granted to child care programs operating in a family child care provider's home, DHS under authority of Minn. Statutes 245A.14, subdivision 4, grants "special" family child care license to child care facilities that are not located in a provider's residence. These licenses are issued either to providers operating in residences other than their own (in "a dwelling that is located on a residential lot"), or employers providing child care services.
With regard to special family child care licenses for employer-based facilities, the Statute states:
"Nonresidential child care programs serving 14 or fewer children that are conducted at a location other than the license holder's own residence shall be licensed under this section and the rules governing family day care or group family day care if: … (b) the license holder is an employer who may or may not be the primary provider of care, and the purpose for the child care program is to provide child care services to children of the license holder's employees."
Some tribal authorities have also issued special family child care licenses for facilities that are not in homes (although not necessarily employer-based, as with the DHS licenses). For example, a tribal authority may choose to license a child care facility in a community center as a family child care home.
• USDA policy limits CACFP family child care participation to individual child care providers. This is based on USDA's interpretation of the scope of the family child care component of the CACFP as being limited to family-based child care.
When the provider (as identified on the child care license) is not an individual, as with employer-based licenses, the child care facility does not qualify to participate in the family child care component of the CACFP and should apply directly to FNS for CACFP participation as a center.
• USDA also limits the participation of family child care homes in the CACFP to those meeting the following requirements (FNS Memo 94-D) of a private residence as a property where:
A licensed or alternately approved provider lives or,
A licensed provider cares for children in someone else’s home, or
A provider cares for children in a licensed, unoccupied residential facility.
• Facilities that provide organized, nonresidential child care services, but do not qualify as "homes" under the federal definition, will generally qualify to participate in the child care center component of the CACFP. "Child care center" is defined broadly in CACFP regulations to include:
"any public or private nonprofit organization or any proprietary Title XX center, licensed or approved to provide nonresidential child care services to enrolled children, including but not limited to day care centers, settlement houses, neighborhood centers, Head Start centers and organizations providing services to handicapped children."
This definition includes all public and private nonprofit organizations, but only some for-profit organizations. To qualify as a "proprietary Title XX center," at least 25 percent of the children receiving child care from a for-profit organization must receive child care assistance from the county.
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