Civil Rights - Data Collection and Maintenance (continued)
A CE and sponsored sites must determine the number of actual and potentially eligible beneficiaries by both racial and ethnic category currently participating in the program, annually.
Centers and sites should maintain this data and be able to produce it upon request.
Actual Beneficiaries
TDA discourages asking a child to self-identify their race and ethnicity, as this practice may confuse young children. Obtaining data from parents or guardians is the preferred method of data collection, as parents or guardians can provide accurate information. If the parent chooses not to identify, their response may be marked “unknown.”
Parents and guardians may be asked to identify the racial or ethnic group of the participating child/student only after the following has been explained:
- Providing the information is to ensure compliance with USDA nondiscrimination requirements only
- Failure to report the information will not affect the participant’s eligibility for meals.
To determine the number of actual beneficiaries, an enrolled site
- Can gather this information within enrollment forms.
- Can use The Collection of Child Nutrition Program Participant Racial/Ethnic Data Prototypes form, located on the SquareMeals.org CACFP Administration/Forms page.
As of May 17, 2021, federal policy prohibits visual observation as an allowable practice for gathering this data.