The intent of the Afterschool Snack Program is to assist schools that operate education and enrichment programs known to help reduce or prevent children’s involvement in juvenile crime or other high risk behavior, by providing snacks. The Afterschool Snack Program gives children a nutritional boost and draws them into supervised activities that are safe, fun, and filled with learning opportunities.

As set forth by the Colorado Department of Education

A program that would qualify for the At-Risk Afterschool Snack Program is:

Please use this discretion when evaluating whether a program meets these criteria to qualify for reimbursement.

• Be organized primarily to provide care for children after school during the regular school year

• Provide organized regularly scheduled education or enrichment activities (i.e., in a      structured and supervised environment).

• Be located in an attendance area of school where at least 50 percent or more of the children are eligible for free or reduced price meals

• Programs that include supervised athletic activity may participate as long as they are open to all and do not limit membership

• When school is in session, the meal or snack served in at-risk afterschool programs must be served after the child’s school day and during the hours the afterschool program is operating

• The program must be sponsored or operated by the school and not another organization. If a contracted program is administering the program at the site, the school is responsible for ensuring that compliance is maintained and shall answer to the SFA (School Food Authority).

•  Organized athletic programs participating in interscholastic sports are excluded from eligibility.

• Extracurricular activities after school qualify only if their basic purpose is to provide afterschool care as defined for this program and open to all. This means that they cannot include tryouts, exclusivity, or participant selection.

•  CDE states that programs may not participate if any of the following applies:

  • Performance whereby students are selected to participate or must try out

  •  Not open to all children at all times – example: Student Council

  • Termed “club” and not open to all

  • The ultimate purpose of the program is to participate in a competition – example: Math Competition

Programs must operate after the child’s day in school. We cannot provide the USDA snacks in programs that operate before or during the school day.

A new application must be filled out each year. Programs having multiple sites need to fill out an application for each site. If you would like to receive snacks and meet the eligibility requirements, submit an application. Your application is sent to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) for approval.

Note: CDE requires all applications to be submitted to them for approval before the start of the program, or as close as possible to the start of the program afterward.

If you have any questions regarding the afterschool care snack program, please send an email to Email Health Snacks.