Shilah Cash runs a child daycare home in Centerville, Appanoose County, Iowa. She has participated in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for about seven years. The CACFP is a federal program that provides reimbursement for meals and snacks provided to children in daycare homes and centers. Daycare homes such as Ms. Cash's must be supervised by a sponsoring organization; in this case the sponsor is SIEDA.

To participate in CACFP in Iowa, the home provider must agree to terms and conditions of program participation. One of the conditions of participation Ms. Cash agreed to is that she would annually attend a CACFP-related training approved by SIEDA. The only issue on appeal is whether Ms. Cash failed to fully and permanently correct her serious deficiency of failing to attend an annual training obligation.

The regulations governing the CACFP are quite strict. The rationale for the strictness of the regulations is simple. CACFP is funded by public monies; therefore, a home provider is required to be accountable to the public for how s/he operates. When such accountability is lacking, the public trust is gone, and the sponsor is required to take appropriate action The evidence presented here amply supports a finding that Ms. Cash failed to permanently and completely correct the seriously deficient practices of failure to participate in training.

For the foregoing reasons, the termination of Shilah Cash from the Child and Adult Care Food Program is hereby ordered.