Media Contact:

Jordan Baker
jbaker@frac.org
202-640-1118

Statement attributable to Luis Guardia, President, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) 

WASHINGTON, November 16, 2021 — The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) and nearly 800 other organizations from all 50 states and the District of Columbia strongly support the Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act, introduced by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), to help strengthen and expand access to nutritious meals for young children through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

The bill proposes many positive improvements that will enhance the important role CACFP plays in improving the quality of child care programs, enhancing the nutrition of meals served, supporting small businesses, and making care more affordable for low-income working parents and other caregivers. The need to expand program reach is now more important than ever as communities continue to respond to the pandemic’s impact on food security and child care.

The bill includes critical provisions for CACFP, including:

  • improving the adequacy of benefits by allowing another meal or snack for children in a full day of care to
  • improving reimbursement rate adjustments for child care home providers to meet the increasing costs of serving meals,
  • streamlining participation by allowing for-profit child care centers to move to annual eligibility,
  • maximizing technology to eliminate burdensome and outdated paperwork, and
  • making improvements to the serious deficiency process.

This bipartisan legislation will go a long way in allowing parents to work and children to learn, grow, and thrive, and will be important in ensuring CACFP grows as funding for the childcare industry also grows.

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The Food Research & Action Center improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.