Ms. White operates a child development home (daycare) in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County. The CACFP is a federal program that provides reimbursement for meals and snacks provided to children in daycare homes and centers. Child development homes must be supervised by a sponsoring organization, in this case WCCA. To participate in CACFP in Iowa, the home provider must be licensed by the Iowa Department of Human Services ("DHS"). A CACFP daycare home provider must sign an annual agreement that provides for the terms and conditions of program participation.

A condition that poses an imminent threat to health or safety of participating children is cause for immediate termination of the provider, subject to appeal. The fact that the substitutes she used did not know the location of the mandatory first-aid kit is a per se violation of DHS standards The fact that her substitutes were not pre-approved violated the safety regulation in 441?IAC 110.5(2). And the extended use of the substitutes violated the safety regulation in 441?IAC 110.5(10).

These safety regulations are not capricious or arbitrary. They were duly adopted by DHS to protect the most vulnerable of our population, children. As for Ms. White's argument in her appeal letter that DHS should not limit her vacation time, she misses the point. The limit is not on the time she takes as vacation; she is free to take as much or as little vacation as she desires, if she closes her daycare during those periods. The limit, designed to protect children and families, is on the amount of time a provider utilizes substitutes.

The proposed termination of Ms. White from the Child and Adult Care Food Program is hereby AFFIRMED.