Alaska child care gets a meal-money raise that may not cover the meals

Alaska child care providers started getting paid more this month for the meals they serve, under the annual cost-of-living update to a federal food program. Whether it's enough is another question.

The new Child and Adult Care Food Program rates took effect July 1 and run through June 2027, covering child care centers, afterschool and adult day care, and in-home day care. Alaska gets a higher schedule than the Lower 48 to reflect what it costs to feed people here. The gap is real: under the schedule that just ended, an Alaska family day care home was paid $5.22 for a lunch or supper, against $3.22 in the contiguous states.

The increases are pegged to inflation, and that's the sticking point. The CACFP Roundtable, an advocacy group for providers, says those bumps don't keep pace with food, labor, and rent costs — leaving providers to absorb the difference, a squeeze on an industry already short on margins and slots.

The USDA has not yet published the 2026-27 tables, so the exact new Alaska amounts are not spelled out.