Often programs charge parents more than the programs would like and the parents can comfortable afford, skimp on services to make up for costs parents or public funders don't cover, and otherwise devote lots of energy to finding ways to reduce costs and bring in funds. The federal child nutrition programs can provide one very stable funding source for afterschool programs, thus strengthening their ability to serve children and youth. Programs that are operating in low-income areas now receive the highest rate of reimbursements for all the snacks served without individually qualifying children for the program, greatly reducing red tape. Children age 12 and under in low-income areas also can receive meals in the afterschool program, but they have to be individually qualified. And they can also be individually qualified to receive snacks and meals if the afterschool program is not located in a low- income area.
Programs document the household income of the children in the program.
The program is then reimbursed at the free rate for children whose household income is at or below 130 percent of poverty, the reduced-price rate for children whose household income is between 130 and 185 percent of poverty, and the lowest rate for children whose household income is above 185 percent or whose household income has not been documented. This also can save a lot of paperwork. The school must be the sponsor of the National School Lunch Program. Interested community groups can contact the school's food service department to find out if it is willing to provide the snack. Prior to this change, afterschool programs in a number of states were required to be licensed as child care facilities, which kept many programs from participating, even though child care licensing rules sometimes are focused on preschool children.