Program Description

FNA is investing grant funds to strengthen CACFP integrity and ensure that eligible children and adults who receive care at participating child care centers, day care homes, and adult day care centers receive the full benefit of the program. Recent high-profile fraud cases have demonstrated the urgent need for stronger safeguards to restore and maintain public confidence in CACFP. Although most program operators seek to comply with program rules in good faith, fraud—even when infrequent—undermines public confidence in government programs and jeopardizes their ability to serve the individuals who are in greatest need of assistance. Accordingly, FNA is committed to supporting State agency efforts to combat fraud, waste, and abuse.

The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (Public Law 119-4) authorized funding for grants to States for the purposes of developing, implementing, and improving modernized information technology (IT) systems used to operate and manage the Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs). In previous years, Technology Innovation Grants (TIGs) have been provided on both a competitive and non-competitive basis. This competitive Request for Applications (RFA) is a new initiative specifically for modernizing systems that operate and manage CACFP to improve program integrity and accountability. State agency applicants should review the RFA thoroughly to ensure full understanding of the updated requirements and procedures.

The TIG-CACFP will provide funds to CACFP State agencies for projects to develop, implement, and improve IT systems used to operate and manage CACFP. This grant opportunity is intended to encourage State agencies that administer CACFP to propose innovative technology solutions that improve program integrity, accountability, and efficiencies at both the State and local levels.

Further, FNA encourages applicants to propose projects that will support implementation of the CACFP integrity strategies outlined in the February 11, 2026, letter titled Promoting Stronger Program Integrity and Oversight in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). public link: https://www.fna.usda.gov/cacfp/state-integrity-letter

Key strategies include:

·       Using the onboarding process to help prevent bad actors from participating in CACFP.

·       Training for institutions in program integrity.

·       Monitoring, investigating, and correcting issues to support effective management of institutions.

·       Using the serious deficiency and suspension process as required.

·       Reviewing reimbursement claims for signs of program abuse.

State agencies administering the CACFP maintain automated systems at the State level that rely on operational data from the local levels including, but not limited to, program applications, eligibility certifications, verification, meal counting and claiming, menu planning, program monitoring, and program reporting. CACFP Sponsoring Organizations (SOs) typically use automated systems, manual systems, or a combination thereof to capture the local program data reported to the State agency. In some States, local agencies may be using 30 or more different software systems to submit program data to the State agency. Others still rely on manual, paper-based methods to capture and report Program data or to receive information from the site level. These inconsistencies create duplication of effort, increase the risk of errors, and reduce visibility of program operations for monitoring purposes. The TIG-CACFP can be used to bridge such gaps by modernizing automation, improving the integrity of CACFP and minimizing risk of fraud, waste, and abuse.

The TIG-CACFP can be used to bridge such gaps by modernizing automation, improving the integrity of CACFP and minimizing risk of fraud, waste, and abuse.

For example, the funds could be used to support activities such as:

·       Enhance automated edit checks to validate data accuracy and consistency across program applications, meal claims, and monitoring reports, reducing errors and strengthening CACFP integrity.

·       Develop seamless interfaces that connect SOs systems with the State system in such a way that they perform seamlessly without duplicating effort yet remain as separate systems.

·       Improve State and SO systems to better comply with USDA/FNA, State, and local requirements by incorporating automated compliance checks, standardized reporting formats, and real-time validation tools.

·       Provide sub-grants to SOs for software to implement automated electronic systems for CACFP.

·       Enhance State and/or SO systems to be able to upload documentation for applications and reimbursement claims, bank records, support disaggregated data, review meal claim forms electronically, improve edit checks, improve record keeping.

·       Create a virtual statewide training system where the State agency provide SOs/sites access to program modules.

·       Expand existing State systems to allow for the routine monthly collection, maintenance, and analysis of facility-level CACFP participation and meal claim records.

FNA will expect grantees to share challenges and successes from their projects broadly, so other State agencies can learn from these innovations and potentially adopt similar solutions to strengthen CACFP integrity. As a final deliverable of the grant project, grantees will be expected to virtually present an overview of their project to FNA and State agencies that operate CACFP, highlighting best practices and lessons learned. This presentation will be shared nationwide and may be posted on CN PartnerWeb.

Key Objective

The Program Objective for the FY 2026 TIG-CACFP is to strengthen CACFP integrity by developing, implementing, and improving information technology systems used to operate and manage the program.

As noted in Section 4, within the “Activities/Indicators Tracker,” proposed activities should be clearly aligned to this objective and their associated activities and indicators. Note that if awarded, grantees will be required to report on progress towards activities aligned with the required objective and must use the FNA-908 Performance Progress Report. Carefully considering proposed activities and indicators will prepare grantees for their progress reporting requirements if awarded.

Examples of project activities that could be supported by FY 2026 TIG-CACFP funds and support the required objective include, but are not limited to:

·       System planning activities that support implementation of system project within the grant period, such as:

o  Current IT systems evaluations, including internal reviews and/or hiring a contractor or university student to conduct a review and recommend solutions;

o  Feasibility studies, including business analysis, requirements analysis, alternative analysis, and cost benefit analysis to plan for an implementation of the system project;

o  Hiring a staff member, such as a project manager, to oversee planning and implementation activities;

o  Establishing a project management plan and/or risk management plan;

o  Preparing a functional requirements specification or document;

o  Consulting with stakeholders; and/or

o  Assessing current system training and oversight capabilities, needs, and effective system training.

·       System implementation activities, such as:

o  Building a custom system or implementing a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product to support CACFP integrity;

o  Packaging and transferring system code from another State agency;

o  Purchasing web-based software;

o  Creating uniform interfaces between diverse systems;

o  Creating interfaces to improve automation between State and local agencies, including sub-grant awards to SOs;

o  Purchasing technology equipment and/or software;

o  Implementing other innovative solutions to improve program operation accountability, monitoring, data accuracy, and overall program integrity at the State and local levels;

o  Hiring contractors such as a business analyst, project manager, and/or program developer;

o  Testing, including unit testing, integration testing, performance testing, end-to-end testing, user acceptance testing, and regression testing;

o  Training for staff and/or local SOs on new technology module(s) or equipment; and/or

o  Purchasing hardware to implement changes accordingly.

Note that while planning activities are allowed, the focus of the project should be to implement an innovative technology solution to support improved CACFP integrity efforts. Planning focused projects will not receive full scores, in accordance with the scoring criteria (See Section 4 – Application Content Information). Routine maintenance and ongoing operations activities are not an allowable cost for the FY 2026 TIG-CACFP.

Additionally, all grantees are required to include the following activity in their Activities/Indicators Tracker (see Section 4 – Application Content Information):

·       Deliver final project overview presentation. This presentation must be conducted virtually, shared nationwide, and may be posted on CN PartnerWeb.