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CACFP daily meal count sheet

The Child and Adult Care Food Program asks a center to keep, for every day, how many children were in attendance and how many meals were served by type, counted at the time of service. This sheet gives each child a row and each meal a box, so the count is made at the table instead of from memory at the end of the day.

“Daily records indicating the number of participants in attendance and ... the time of service meal counts, by type (breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacks), served to center participants.”7 CFR 226.15(e)(4)

How to use it

1. Fill in the center, the room, the date and who is counting.
2. Write each child's name and tick Here when they arrive.
3. Tick a meal's box as that child is served, not afterward.
4. At the end of the day, total each column. Those totals are the day's counts for your claim.
5. On the last line, count the meals served to adults who prepare or serve the food. Centers keep those too, by type (7 CFR 226.15(e)(5)).

Your state agency or sponsor may hand out its own form. If it does, use theirs: the rule asks for the records, not for this sheet.