As a licensed or license exempt Child Care Pro­vider participating with the CACFP, you are reimbursed at a set rate for serving USDA qualifying meals/snacks to the chil­dren in your care. You may be reim­bursed for a maximum of two meals and one snack OR one meal and two snacks, per child, per day.

How your CACFP Reimbursement Reaches You

After reviewing your Claims each month, ACD applies to ISBE for your reimbursement money. As soon as the funds become available to ACD, your reimbursement is mailed to your home in the form of a check, or directly deposited into your savings or checking account if requested. Claims are processed one month behind. For example, if you submit your May claim by June 5, reimburse­ment for CACFP qualifying meals will be mailed to you or deposited in your bank account using direct de­posit once the funds are received from ISBE/MDE. Using this example, this reimbursement will generally be sent to you by the end of June. Claims received after June 5 will be reim­bursed within 2-4 weeks of receipt at ACD. This is subject to change based upon ISBE/MDE/USDA regulations.

CACFP Reimbursement Rates

The USDA sets the reimbursement rates and may adjust them by a small amount annually, on July 1, according to changes in the cost-of-living.

There are two reimbursement rates: Tier I rates and Tier II rates. The rate at which you are reimbursed is determined by geo­graphic data, your household in­come, and/or the household in­come of the children in your care.

View Current Reimbursement Rates

Determining Your CACFP Reimbursement Rate

Based on the information you pro­vide on the Verification of Elementary School Form, our Tiering de­partment verifies and identifies the free or reduced price School Lunch participation rate at the local public elementary school that a child liv­ing in your home would normally attend. If that rate is at or above 50 percent, and the school district confirms that is the school assigned to your address, then your child care home automatically qualifies for the higher Tier I rates and you will be reimbursed at those rates for meals/snacks served to all non­residential children in your care.

If we are unable to assess whether School Lunch participation data accurately reflects the demographics of your community due to bussing, magnet schools, construction of a new elementary school where data is not yet available, etc., then the most recent census data will be used to make the determination.

If a Tier I determination is made based on the free or reduced price School Lunch participation rate, that determination remains in effect for five years, as long as the elementary school is still in existence, you live at the same address, a child living in your home would normally attend that elementary school, and you remain an active participant with the CACFP. Changing sponsors of the CACFP will result in re-verification using the most current data available.

If the public elementary school as­signed to your address has a free or reduced price School Lunch partici­pation rate below 50 percent AND you do not qualify to receive Tier I rates based on your household in­come or you choose not to apply, you may elect to distribute a Household (Parent) Income Eligibility Application to the families of the children in your care. Each household will have the option to complete a Household (Parent) Income Eligi­bility Application and return it to ACD. You will receive the higher Tier I rates for meals/snacks served to any child in your care whose family income is at or below 185 percent of the poverty line estab­lished by the federal government. You will receive Tier II rates for meals/snacks served to any child whose family income is above 185 percent of the poverty line, or whose family chooses not to com­plete an application.

A child in your care whose family receives benefits from Food Stamps; the Family Independence Program (FIP, formerly AFDC); the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly WIC); federally funded Head Start (participants who meet the pro­gram's low income criteria); Pre-Kindergarten participants of the Even Start Program; the Commod­ity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP); Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); The Emergency Food Assistance Pro­gram (TEFAP); Medicaid; or the National School Lunch Program and Special Breakfast Program will be eligible to receive the higher Tier I reimbursement rates after a Household (Parent) Income Eligi­bility Application has been submit­ted and approved.

If it is determined that you do not qualify to receive Tier I rates, you will be reimbursed at Tier II rates for meals/snacks served to all children in your care.

Household income information is highly confidential and will be treated as such by ACD staff. For that reason, if you are reimbursed at both Tier I and Tier II rates, ACD is only able to inform you of the number of children eligible for each rate on your check stub. ACD may also notify you of the number of Tier I children in your care if you call to request this information. ACD cannot release information about which children are reimbursed at what rate, nor which families have/ have not returned the Household Income Eligibility Application to ACD.

The effective date of an approved Household Income Eligibility Application is the first day of the month in which the application is approved. The application must be complete, correct, and have all required supporting documents attached. Effective dates cannot be backdated to a prior month, so it is imperative that the application is submitted to ACD as soon as possible.

Direct Deposit of your CACFP Reimbursement

For your convenience, you may request that ACD deposit your monthly CACFP reimbursement into one checking or savings account of your choice. ACD will send the direct deposit to the bank and mail a deposit statement to you on the same day that reimbursement checks are mailed.
The deposit statement includes the amount and date of the deposit, the claim period of reimbursement, and the type and number of meals/ snacks being reimbursed. Providers choosing to submit electronic claims will not receive a statement. However, this information may be accessed online the day after the deposit is made to the bank account.

To sign up for direct deposit, please call your state office below and request that a Direct Deposit Authorization Form be mailed or faxed to you. You may also download a form from our website. Complete the form, then return it to ACD. Requests for direct deposit are processed and become effective immediately.

• ACD Illinois office: (800) 284-5273
• ACD Michigan office: (800) 234-3287