Let’s get ready for Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization! This reauthorization process gives us all an opportunity to educate Congress on what would make the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) even better. The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee and the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee will take the lead on this work. Senators and Representatives will introduce legislation on specific programs to help build enthusiasm for particular issues like school breakfast, school lunch, and of course CACFP.
Legislation in the U.S. Senate: The Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act (S. 1270). NAFCC is pleased to endorse this legislation!
Here’s why:
- Things You Have Been Saying:
- We have children in our care for 12 hours a day.
- We feed them more than 2 meals and a snack all day long.
- We should be able to claim the meals we actually serve.
Casey Bill Provision: Additional meal service (typically snack or supper) for full day care.
- Things You Have Been Saying:
- The reimbursements don’t cover our cost of food to be on the food program.
- Reimbursements need to be higher.
Casey Bill Provision: Increased reimbursements by ten cents for each meal and snack.
- Things You Have Been Saying:
- Family child care provider reimbursement rates should be determined the same as child care centers.
- We buy the same food to participate on the program, why do centers have different (and sometimes higher) reimbursement rates?
Casey Bill Provision: Improve the cost of living adjustment for child care home reimbursement rates to reflect more accurately the real costs to providers.
*Note: This means that instead of reimbursement rate adjustments being based on the Consumer Price Index for Food at Home (which is what it is now for family child care providers) it will be based on the Consumer Price Index for Food Away from Home (which is how the child care center’s reimbursement rates are determined).
- Things You Have Been Saying:
- We need to eliminate tiering.
- Everyone should be on tier 1.
- The tier 2 reimbursement barely covers a small portion of the healthy and nutritious food we feed the children in our care.
Casey Bill Provision: Improve the area eligibility test by allowing family child care home providers to receive Tier 1 reimbursement if 40 percent of the children in the neighborhood are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
*Note: While this unfortunately doesn’t eliminate tiering, it will expand eligibility for many family child care providers. USDA has just published a waiver to temporarily make all family child care providers Tier 1 starting July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. And we’ll keep talking about how harmful the two-tier system is!
- Things You Have Been Saying:
- There is too much paperwork to make it worth it to do the program.
- I spend hours a day after the children leave doing paperwork. CACFP paperwork adds to that and sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s worth it.
Casey Bill Provision: Directs USDA to reduce unnecessary and duplicative paperwork resulting from federal and state regulations and record-keeping requirements.
Here’s what you can do right now:
Let’s continue advocating to make a good CACFP even better! These U.S. Senators also support The Access to Healthy Food for Young Children Act in the Senate, and have added their names as co-sponsors:
- Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
- Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
- Cory Booker (D-NJ)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
- Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
- Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
- Patty Murray (D-WA)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
- Tina Smith (D-MN)
- John Tester (D-MT) *new on July 21!
- Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Is your U.S. Senator missing from this list? You can email them today and ask them to support the bill! Thanks to our friends at Food Research and Action Center for making this easy using this quick form.
