Tennessee Looking to Grow Program Families Depend on for Meals

The Tennessee Department of Human Services is encouraging more organizations to become a sponsor of the Child and Adult Care Food Program next year.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program is a federally funded program that provides needed meals to children and adults who meet age and income requirements. Tennessee Department of Human Services administers the program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reimburse sponsoring organizations for meals.

Last fiscal year sponsors served more than 39 million meals across Tennessee.
Potential Child and Adult Care Food Program sponsors include:
· Licensed child care centers.
· Head Start programs.
· Emergency shelters providing residential and food services to homeless children.
· Family child care homes.-school programs.
· Adult day care centers.

Tennessee Department of Human Services is now accepting applications for organizations that want to take part in the Child and Adult Care Food Program next year and will continue to accept them until August 1, 2018. All applications must be approved prior to September 30, 2018.

Human Services records indicate, the only active program in Cannon County is Woodbury Head Start.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, healthy eating can help maintain healthy body weight and reduce the risk of developing health conditions. For children, healthy eating has been associated with improved cognitive function and reduced absenteeism.

To learn more about the CACFP visit https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/children/dhs-nutrition-programs/child-and-adult-care-food-program.html.

Agencies who may be interested in CACFP are encouraged to attend training sessions hosted by the Department of Human Services. For more information email CACFP.DHS@tn.gov or call (615) 313-4749.

Learn more about the Tennessee Department of Human Services at www.tn.gov/humanservices.