(Provided to Family Day Care Home Sponsors February 2015)

CACFP Update – School Data for Tiering Family Day Care Homes

Washington public school free and reduced-price meal eligibility information must be provided annually to all family day care home sponsors. This data may be used to determine eligibility for Tier 1 reimbursement to family day care home providers. When using this data please keep in mind the following:

  • Family day care homes may be classified as Tier 1 for purposes of reimbursement if the home is located in the attendance area of any public school in which at least 50 percent of the enrolled children are certified eligible for free and reduced-price school meals.
  • School data must be representative of the attendance area of the school. Schools which house special programs or are magnet schools, drawing from throughout the district rather than students from the surrounding neighborhood, cannot be used. It is the responsibility of the sponsoring organization to confirm that the school being used for tiering is a neighborhood school. Data from alternative high schools, skill centers, charter schools and other similar special schools should not be used.
  • In schools in which children are bussed in from throughout the school district, the school data may not be used unless the school is able to “factor out” the pupils bussed in from other areas. Seattle School District schools that meet the 50 percent free and reduced-price guidelines, both by OSPI data and from the Seattle special run by reference area, may be used to qualify providers for Tier 1 reimbursement. Schools that meet this criteria are indicated by an asterisk (*) next to the percent eligible.
  • Sponsors must qualify a provider for Tier 1 reimbursement using only the list provided by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Routine monthly fluctuations in a school’s free and reduced-price data may not be used to qualify or disqualify a home for Tier 1 status. If there is a compelling reason to believe an error has been made on the list, contact Child Nutrition Services. We will verify the information with the school.
  • Some schools do not participate in the National School Lunch Program and are not listed in the data.
  • Family day care home providers who are eligible for Tier 1 reimbursement by school data will be eligible for Tier 1 reimbursement for five years from the date of determination.
  • USDA policy allows the use of either school or census data. Sponsors no longer need to check school data first before they can use census data.
  • The school data posted February 2015 is effective March 1, 2015.

If you have questions regarding the use of school data in tiering homes, please contact Adele Roberts, Child and Adult Care Food Program Supervisor, at (360) 725-6200, .