National CACFP Forum

We’re excited to highlight one of our National CACFP Forum board members, Jodi Kuhn, who will be presenting a free webinar with the Institute of Child Nutrition on June 16.

CACFP: Nurturing Healthy Habits – Promoting Positive Eating Behaviors in Children will explore practical strategies for supporting healthy relationships with food and creating positive mealtime experiences for children.

As President of the National CACFP Forum and Director of Regulatory Compliance at KinderCare Learning Companies, Jodi is passionate about helping providers create environments that nourish both children and lifelong healthy habits.

June 16, 2026
3:00 PM ET
Learn more and register: https://ilearn.theicn.org/learn/courses/791/cacfp-nurturing-healthy-habits-promoting-positive-eating-behaviors-in-children-june-16th-2026-3pm-est

Thank you to the Institute of Child Nutrition for continuing to provide high-quality training opportunities for the child nutrition community.

Strong child nutrition programs depend on both accountability and support.

CACFP already includes multiple layers of oversight, including monitoring visits, claim reviews, audits, financial reviews, corrective action processes, and state and federal oversight. These systems help protect program integrity while ensuring eligible children and adults continue to receive nutritious meals.

As policymakers consider ways to strengthen programs, it's important to remember that administrative errors, training needs, and intentional fraud are not the same thing. Effective solutions should protect taxpayer resources while supporting the providers and sponsors working every day to serve their communities.

Recent policy discussions in WIC are a reminder that child nutrition programs are deeply connected — and the challenges facing one program often signal what may be ahead for others, including CACFP.
Key themes emerging right now:
• Pressure on funding and benefit levels despite national conversations about improving nutrition
• Concerns about maintaining flexibility and modernization efforts that help programs better serve families
• USDA restructuring that could impact institutional knowledge, state support, and program consistency
• Ongoing tension between nutrition goals, operational realities, and cost coverage
For CACFP providers, sponsors, and advocates, these conversations matter. Policies must work in real child care settings, support access to healthy foods, and remain operationally achievable for the providers serving children every day.
The National CACFP Forum will continue monitoring these developments and advocating for practical, sustainable policy solutions that strengthen child nutrition programs — not create additional barriers to participation.

President’s Budget Calls for Cuts to Fruits, Vegetables Benefit for Mothers and Children in WIC - Food Research & Action Center Published April 10, 2025 On Friday, April 3,  President Trump released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2027. Despite the administration professing a commitment to making America healthy, this budget proposal would cut critical nutrition service for moms, babies, and children, dramatically slas...