IMPORTANT REMINDER: Region 6 ESC will be closed for Spring Break, March 11-15, 2024.

CACFP Week is a national educational and information campaign sponsored annually by the National CACFP Sponsors Association designed to raise awareness of how the USDA's Child and Adult Care Food Program works to combat hunger. The CACFP brings healthy foods to tables across the country for children in child care centers, homes and afterschool, as well as for adults in day care.

In efforts to ensure that all sponsors of unaffiliated CACFP At-Risk sites are providing the proper operational oversight over the management and administration of the food program at those sites, and to ensure that sponsors are properly procuring meal vendors and FSMCs at At-Risk locations, TDA is requiring all sponsors of unaffiliated At-Risk sites to complete a questionnaire/attestation form.

Valid Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) At-Risk Unaffiliated Site Questionnaire/Attestation Form

This form must be submitted no later than June 30, 2024. On July 1, TDA will begin closing all unaffiliated At-Risk sites for which a form has not been submitted with an effective closing date of September 30. Please refer to the Sponsor Under a Sponsor FAQs for more information on this new process.

Please respond to TDA’s biannual Farm Fresh Survey 2024! This 5–10 minute survey helps inform the agency of Texas Farm Fresh activity, and provides feedback on your needs and how to support Farm Fresh programming in schools and childcare settings across the state. Click here to complete this important survey.

If you are applying for, or considering applying for, the Supporting the Use of Traditional Indigenous Foods in the Child Nutrition Program Cooperative Agreement, come to Team Nutrition's Virtual Office Hours on Tuesday, March 12 (3 pm ET) or Thursday, March 14 (12 pm ET) with your questions.

Register here: fns.usda.gov/grant/cn-supporting-indigenous-foods-cooperative-agreement.

Please note there will not be a formal presentation during the Office Hours – we will be there to answer your questions! Subject matter experts and the Grants Officer will be on the call to assist.

All Contracting Entities (CEs) are required to complete the SFSP training prior to application submittal. If training completion cannot be verified, your application will be returned without being reviewed and you will not be eligible to operate the program until such time as the training can be verified and the renewal application is approved. At a minimum, the sponsor’s supervisory personnel responsible for the food service must complete SFSP program administration and operations training available online or at a local ESC location.

TDA Web Based Training

The SFSP Management Plan is now a part of the TXUNPS platform. New Contracting Entities (CEs), renewing SFSP CEs who operate ONLY SFSP, and those CEs who received a temporary Serious Deficiency determination in SFSP PY23, CACFP PY23 and CACFP PY24 are required to complete the management plan as part of the application process.

School Food Authorities (SFA’s) and CEs who operate CACFP and are in good standing DO NOT have to complete the VCA Management Plan.

• January 15, 2024 - Application Packets open in TX-UNPS.
• March 15, 2024 - Last day to submit Application Packets in TX-UNPS to TDA if CE is requesting advance payments. Application Packets submitted in TX-UNPS after this date will not be eligible to receive advance payments for summer 2023.
• April 15, 2024 - Last day to submit the SFSP Intake Form via squaremeals.org to initiate the potential applicant review process. Last day to submit the SFSP Application Packet in TX-UNPS for all renewing SFSP CEs that are Not in Good Standing (including CEs with a temporary deferred Serious Deficiency [SD]) for SFSP 2022, CACFP 2022 and/or CACFP 2023.
• May 1, 2024 - Last day to submit Application Packets for all other renewing CEs.

CEs that do not wish to renew their participation must submit a written request to terminate their FND Permanent Agreement by mutual consent. If a mutual termination request is not received, for those that do not participate in a program year, they must reapply as new if they wish to resume operations in the next program year.

USDA Team Nutrition is pleased to announce their new Family Style Meal Service With Children in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) resources. These resources include: Operator Booklet, Classroom Posters, Training Slides, Photographs, Social Media Graphics and Live Webinars.

View in Spanish I Vea en español

USDA's Team Nutrition initiative is excited to announce the availability of It's Breakfast Time! Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Breakfast Menu Planner for Children 3 Through 18 Years of Age in English and Spanish.