Obama to Feed Low-Income School Children During the Summer
On Wednesday the White House announced that President Obama will be asking Congress for $12 billion over the course of the next ten years to help feed school children of low-income families during the summer.
According to the Associated Press, the request will be sent in the 2017 budget proposal President Obama will send to lawmakers on February 9th of 2016. The bill proposes that families who qualify for subsidized school meals be given a special electronic benefits card that will allow them to buy an ad
ditional $45 in groceries per child each month when school is out.
Nearly 22 million children in the United states get subsidized meals during the school year, according to NPR. Last summer, government meal programs served approximately 3.8 million children a day. This is a striking deficit that leaves many wondering where the other 18.2 million children in low-income families are getting meals, or if they even are at all.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says there are many reasons for the summertime drop-off in participation because it's hard to find sites where kids can be fed during the summer, when they're home and schools are closed. It is also difficult for elementary and middle school aged children who cannot drive to places that in the past, were government funded feeding places (e.g. libraries, camps, the Salvation Army). This is especially difficult in rural areas, where children live far from any church or public space where meals can be served.
In the February proposal, the Obama Administration has set a goal of serving 200 million meals to children and teens this summer.
According to USDA.gov, “The Obama Administration has made tremendous progress increasing summer meals access and participation. In 2014, FNS delivered 23 million more summer meals than in 2009. In 2014, in the peak operating month of July, over 45,000 summer meal sites were available across the U.S., a 29 percent increase from 2009.”
The Agriculture Department also revealed a plan that they hope will increase participation in the National School Lunch program by reducing the paperwork their parents must file in order to participate. In doing so, states will be allowed to use Medicaid data to certify students for free and reduced-price lunches. The reasoning behind poor registration for free and reduced lunches could be that people are not familiar with how to register, the equipment used to register is not accessible to some families, or the parents do not take the time/interest in registering their children. With Medicaid data registration this would automatically put those eligible, into the school database.
If you or someone you know is experiencing an food-insecure household, and are in need of a way to feed children and teens in the summer, please visit: http://www.fns.usda.gov/summerfoodrocks
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