Sponsor Stories: CACFP Challenges Through the Lens of Closed Sponsors

Young girl sitting at a table, smiling and holding a carrot stick, with a plate of vegetables in front of her.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a critical federal entitlement program that helps ensure children in eligible care settings have access to nutritious meals and snacks. For home-based child care providers, participation in CACFP is only possible through sponsoring organizations that manage reimbursement, compliance, and administrative requirements on their behalf.

This report examines why some CACFP sponsors have chosen to close and what those closures mean for home-based providers. Drawing on interviews from former sponsors across multiple states, it highlights the operational, financial, and staffing challenges that have contributed to sponsor exits—and the resulting impacts on providers’ ability to access the program.

Read the full report

Two figures hold a house with a child inside; banners read “Universal Child Care” and “Built From Home.”.

Universal Child Care, Built from Home: A vision for what universal child care can look like when it starts with the providers families trust most

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Over the past several months, the Home Grown team has worked with provider leaders and our advisory communities to develop a set of principles for what a universal child care system should look like when it fully includes home-based child care. The result is our first draft of a shared vision: Universal Child Care, Built From Home.
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Six women pose and smile together; inset photos show two young children eating food at different times.

Introducing the Nourishing Care Community of Practice

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Home Grown has established and will lead the Nourishing Care Community of Practice (CoP) for state policy advocates who work across care, food, and economic stability issue areas
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Woman chops bell pepper while two children prepare food at a kitchen table, all focused on their tasks.

La nueva tarifa de pago por alimentos perjudica a los niños y sus cuidadores (Una vez más) 

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En julio de 2026, el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos publicó las actualizaciones anuales obligatorias de las tasas de reembolso para el CACFP.
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