Working with the CACFP Food Program

Learn how to record meals, plan menus, and generate reports.

What is the CACFP?

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federal program that provides reimbursements for nutritious meals and snacks to eligible children and adults enrolled in participating care programs. Some important things to know

• Eligibility and Participation: Providers such as child care centers, family day care homes, afterschool programs, and adult day care centers can participate in the CACFP. Participation helps ensure that those in their care receive nutritious meals.
• Reimbursement Process: The CACFP provides financial support to offset the cost of meals. Reimbursements are based on the number of meals served and the income levels of the participants. Providers need to submit accurate records of meals served to claim reimbursements.
• Record keeping: Providers are required to maintain detailed records of menus, meal counts, and attendance to ensure compliance with CACFP regulations. Proper documentation is essential for claiming reimbursements and passing program reviews.

How to get started

Wonderschool’s Mobile App and CCMS site make it easy to plan menus, record meals and share reports with your parents and your sponsor.

Planning Menus

1. From your CCMS site, click on Food Program, then Menu Planning.
2. From here, you can:
   1. See menus for each day.
      1. Clicking Edit Meals opens a Quick Edit screen.
      2. Select the meal and start typing a food item to add to the menu.
         1. If the food item has already been added to your Library, clicking the food will add it to that meal.
         2. If the food item has not been added, you can add it your library here.
   2. Print your menu to share with your parents or Sponsor.

Logging Meals on Desktop

1. From your CCMS site, click on Food Program, then Meal Recording
2. Select your students that are participating in the meal. These can be filtered by room, checked-in students, all students, or selected individually
3. Select your food items.
   1. If you have planned a menu for the day, the pre-planned items will be shown on the left hand side.
   2. Otherwise, you can select previously saved meals or add individual food items.
   3. Review your choices and save the meal to your calendar.

Logging Meals on the Mobile App

1. To access the Food Program features on the Wonderschool App, tap Activities on the navigation bar at the bottom of your phone screen.
2. Under Activities, tap the Meal icon.
3. Select the students that are taking part in the Meal
4. Adjust the Meal Type, choose a previously recorded meal, or add specific food items. You can also record the amount of food consumed.

Reporting

1. From your CCMS site, click on Food Program, then Reports.
2. Select your Report Type from the drop down, specify the date range, and select the room for which you’d like to generate the report. Refer to the table below for a detailed breakdown of reach report and its contents. Each of these reports can be saved as a PDF and/or printed to share with your sponsor.

Daily Meal Count	By week, see what students were served and if they were served a specific meal (e.g Breakfast).
Monthly Meals Served	By day, see total meals served and how many students participated in the meal.
Food Program Attendance	By week, see what students checked in and were present to participate in the Food Program.

FAQ

Can I edit the amount of food a student consumed?

Yes, when recording a Meal,  teachers or admins can specify the specific food, amounts, or meal that the student consumed.

Can I reuse meals? 

Meals are a combination of Food Items (like Eggs, Apple, and Milk). Each time a meal is recorded, we automatically save it to your database so you can easily select and reuse it again.