No Child Left Unfed.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 1054

Short Title: No Child Left Unfed. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Chaudhuri and Burgin (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
May 4, 2026
*S1054-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REQUIRE TH E DEPARTMENT OF HEAL TH AND HUMAN SERVICE S TO 2
EXTEND ACCESS TO THE FEDERAL CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM 3
TO CHILD CARE PROVIDERS OPERATING LICENSED CHILD CARE HOMES. 4
Whereas, family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care providers serve a critical role 5
in the child care ecosystem of North Carolina, caring for a significant share of young children, 6
particularly in low-income, rural, and underserved communities; and 7
Whereas, the Child and Adult Care Food Program ( CACFP), administered by the 8
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the North Carolina Department of Health 9
and Human Services, provides reimbursements for nutritious meals and snacks served to eligible 10
children in qualifying child care settings; and 11
Whereas, legally operating FFN providers are currently excluded from or face 12
significant barriers to participation in CACFP, limiting the nutritional resources available to the 13
children they serve; and 14
Whereas, expanding CACFP access to legally operating FFN providers will improve 15
child nutrition outcomes, support small and informal providers, and reduce child food insecurity 16
in North Carolina; and 17
Whereas, it is the intent of the General Assembly to direct the North Carolina 18
Department of Health and Human Services to take feasible administrative action to achieve this 19
expansion without requiring a lengthy study period, consistent with applicable federal law and 20
USDA requirements; Now, therefore, 21
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 22
SECTION 1. Article 3 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding 23
a new Part to read: 24
"Part 10D. Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for Child Care Providers. 25
"§ 143B-168.40. CACFP Access for Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care Providers. 26
(a) Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section: 27
(1) CACFP. – The Child and Adult Care Food Program, as authorized under 28
Section 17 of the National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1766, and 29
administered in this State by the Division of Child Development and Early 30
Education (DCDEE) within the Department of Health and Human Services. 31
(2) Family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care provider. – An individual who 32
is legally operating under applicable State law and provides child care , 33
including child care in one of the following settings: 34
a. An operator-occupied private dwelling in which, at any one time, two 35
or less children receive child care. 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 1054-First Edition
b. The home of any child receiving child care if all of the children in child 1
care are related to one another and no more than two additional 2
children are in child care. 3
The term includes individuals providing (i) child care that falls below the 4
threshold requiri ng licensure under G.S. 110-86(3)b., (ii) arrangements 5
excluded from the definition of child care under G.S. 110-86(2), and (iii) child 6
care holding a license-exempt status recognized by the Department. 7
(b) Requirements. – The Department shall take all feasible administrative action to 8
extend access to CACFP to legally operating FFN child care providers, which action may include, 9
but is not limited to, the following: 10
(1) Identifying and engaging or designating one or more sponsoring organizations 11
capable of administering CACFP reimbursements to FFN providers. 12
(2) Developing or modifying application procedures, training requirements, and 13
record-keeping protocols appropriate to the scale and nature of FFN care 14
settings. 15
(3) Applying for any available federal waivers, pilot programs, or flexibilities that 16
support FFN provider participation in CACFP. 17
(4) Establishing simplified or tiered compliance mechanisms to reduce 18
administrative burden on FFN providers while maintaining program integrity. 19
(c) Reporting. – No later than July 1 of each year, the Department shall submit a report 20
to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal 21
Research Division of the General Assembly detailing each of the following: 22
(1) The number of FFN providers enrolled in or newly accessing CACFP. 23
(2) The number of children served through FFN providers participating in 24
CACFP. 25
(3) Any barriers to participation identified and steps taken to address them. 26
(4) Recommendations for additional legislative or administrative action. 27
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any FFN provider to participate 28
in CACFP, to alter the licensure requirements of Chapter 110 of the General Statutes, or to 29
conflict with applicable federal law or USDA regulations governing CACFP." 30
SECTION 2. Implementation Plan. – No later than 180 days after this act becomes 31
effective, the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and 32
Early Education, shall develop and publish an implementation plan detailing the administrative 33
approach selected pursuant to G.S. 143B-168.40(b), as enacted in Section 1 of this act, including 34
timelines, required rule changes, any necessary federal approvals, and resource requirements. 35
SECTION 3. Report. – The Division of Child Development and Early Education 36
shall submit its initial report required by G.S. 143B-168.40(c), as enacted by Section 1 of this 37
act, no later than 12 months from the date this act becomes effective. 38
SECTION 4.(a) Appropriations. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to 39
the Depar tment of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early 40
Education, the following amounts for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, for the following purposes: 41
(1) The sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) in nonrecurring 42
funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to do each of the following: 43
a. Develop the implementation plan required by Section 2 of this act, 44
including identification of feasible administrative approaches to 45
extending Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) access to 46
legally operating family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care 47
providers, assessment of required federal approvals or State plan 48
amendments, and determination of resource requirements necessary to 49
carry out the selected approach. 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 1054-First Edition Page 3
b. Conduct outreach to existi ng and potential CACFP sponsoring 1
organizations to assess capacity and willingness to administer CACFP 2
reimbursements on behalf of FFN providers, and to identify gaps in 3
sponsoring organization coverage across the State, with particular 4
attention to rural areas and communities with high concentrations of 5
FFN care arrangements. 6
c. Design and pilot FFN -appropriate application procedures, training 7
curricula, and record -keeping protocols that reduce administrative 8
burden on FFN providers while maintaining compl iance with 9
applicable federal program integrity requirements. 10
d. Apply for any available federal waivers, pilot programs, or flexibilities 11
offered by the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and 12
Nutrition Service, that would support or accelerate FFN provider 13
participation in CACFP, including preparation of any required state 14
plan amendments. 15
(2) The sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in recurring funds 16
beginning in the 2025-2026 fiscal year to support the ongoing administrative 17
costs of coordinating FFN provider participation in CACFP in accordance 18
with this act, including the hiring of full -time staff to assist with processing 19
and outreach of applications, staff time dedicated to sponsoring organization 20
oversight, FFN provider support, data collection, and preparation of the annual 21
report required under G.S. 143B-168.40(c), as enacted in Section 1 of this act. 22
Funding shall continue until such time as federal CACFP administrative 23
reimbursements are sufficient to cover those costs, at which point the Division 24
of Child Development and Early Education shall notify the Office of State 25
Budget and Management and the Fiscal Research Division and the recurring 26
appropriation under this subdivision shall be reduced accordingly. 27
SECTION 4.(b) Funds appropriated under subsection (a) of this section shall not 28
revert to the General Fund at the end of the fiscal year but shall remain available for the purposes 29
of that subsection until expended or until June 30 of the second fiscal year following 30
appropriation, whichever occurs first. 31
SECTION 5. This act is effective when it becomes law. 32