Illuminating Child and Adult Care Food Program Partnerships That Improved Food Access and Waiver Utilization for Feeding Young Children in Early Care and Education Programs During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study - 18/03/24
, Carly Hillburn, MS, RD, LMNT, Jordan Luxa, MS, RD, Katherine W. Bauer, PhD, Laura Lessard, PhD, MPH, Caree Cotwright, PhD, RDN, LD, Alison Tovar, PhD
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Abstract |
Background |
Little is known about the partnerships formed between early care and education (ECE) programs and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and other organizations to continue to feed young children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such information can provide important lessons to build ECE capacity for feeding children during future emergencies and has the potential strengthen the ECE food systems.
Objective |
This study aimed to identify the unique partnerships that CACFP state agencies established to provide nutrition to young children during the COVID-19 pandemic
Design |
Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 24 participants representing 21 states across the United States.
Participants/Setting |
Virtual interviews with CACFP directors from December 2020 through May 2021.
Analysis |
Following the realist method, transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Codes were developed inductively and grouped to identify themes and subthemes.
Results |
Four themes were identified: (1) CACFP partnerships that supported children and families directly; (2) CACFP partnerships that built the capacity of ECE providers to provide food to children in their own settings; (3) CACFP systems-level partnerships that improved coordination of efforts to continue to feed children in ECE; and (4) CACFP directors encouraged other CACFP state agencies to build nontraditional, diverse partnerships that can be leveraged during pandemics and other natural disasters. Within these themes (subthemes), the purpose of the partnerships focused on improving waiver utilization (eg, Department of Transportation, state health departments), improving food access (eg, Summer Food Service Program [SFSP], food banks, grocery stores, dairy councils), supporting ECE programs to participate in food reimbursement programs (eg, SFSP, CACFP sponsors), and resource sharing (eg, coalitions, CACFP sponsors).
Conclusions |
The CACFP state directors reported that existing and new partnerships between CACFP state agencies and external entities successfully facilitated feeding young children in ECE during the COVID-19 pandemic. States may consider developing a road map to proactively explore potential partners in their state to meet specific needs such as accessibility, availability, and affordability for feeding young children in ECE.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Early care and education, Child and adult care food program, Partnerships, Food security, COVID-19
Plan
| STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. |
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| FUNDING/SUPPORT This work was supported by the US Department of AgricultureNational Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project NO. 1011204 and the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station and the Betti and Richard Robinson Professorship awarded to Dr. Dipti Dev. |
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| AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS All authors contributed to the conceptual design of the study. D. D. and A. T. completed interviews. J. L. and C. H. completed data analysis and coding. D. D., A. T., J. L., and C. H. developed and defined themes. All authors reviewed the final themes. D. D. and C. H. wrote the first draft with contributions from J. L. All authors reviewed and provided feedback on each subsequent draft. |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge Madeleine Sigman-Grant for her contributions regarding scientific and technical writing. We have received permission to include Dr. Sigman-Grant in the acknowledgement. This manuscript was facilitated by the Early Childhood working group, a collaboration between Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN). |
Vol 124 - N° 4
P. 453-465 - avril 2024 Retour au numéro
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