August 2003

Summer Recess Message:
Do No Damage to the Child Nutrition Programs -
Or Else Thousands of Eligible Children May Lose Meals

The House and Senate both are expected to mark up Child Nutrition Reauthorization bills before Congress adjourns as early as mid-October, House hearings on commodities and child obesity have been postponed and are likely to occur in early October.

Congress is on recess until after Labor Day, which means your members of Congress likely are in their home districts right now. This is a crucial time to contact your members of Congress with the message to do no damage to the Child Nutrition Programs.

There are indications that the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bills will include a substantial increase to the percentage of children who have to prove how little their families earn in order to receive free or reduced-price school lunch.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study suggests that as many as 1 in 5 children who are certified as eligible for free school lunch may be ineligible because the family's income may be too high, yet poverty data experts have found this overcertification estimate to be unreliable.

While the USDA study does not actually prove that there is an overcertification problem, recent USDA data suggest that increasing the percentage of families who have to document their income:

• Will NOT help improve the accuracy of certifications in the program, and
  
  
• Will harm schools and children by deterring thousands of eligible low-income children from the school lunch program.

Click here for more background information and talking points about this issue.

Actions to Take:

1. Call your Members' home district offices to alert them to your concerns about the potential proposals on the alleged "overcertification" problem. Let them know that you have brought this issue to other organizations and will continue to raise your concerns about these proposals in your community. Click here to see if your Senators or Representative are on the authorizing committees.
   
   
2. Send your Senators and Representative an email from the FRAC website urging them to oppose any changes to the school lunch program that would impose additional eligibility verification requirements on low-income families and school districts.
   
   
3. Let others in your community know about these proposals and the significant harm they could do to the school meals programs. Make sure the local teachers union, the dietetic association, school food service association and other concerned groups are aware and involved in the fight to prevent these changes. Encourage others to send the letter from the FRAC website to their Members.
   
   
4. In addition to our above "do no harm" message, we urge you to continue to reiterate a proactive child nutrition reauthorization agenda. Check out the "Call to Congress" for more specifics.

Factsheets on Child Nutrition Programs School Breakfast  |  School Lunch  |  Afterschool  |  Summer Food Women, Infants, and Children  |  Child and Adult Care Food Program

Prepared by the Food Research & Action Center, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200; www.frac.org