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U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici enjoys snack time with the kids at Heaven Sent in Hillsboro. On the right is Local 132's Christina Folsom-Nitzsche, operator of the two Heaven Sent centers. |
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U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) toured a Local 132 child care site and spoke with two Oregon AFSCME child care providers July 17. The primary topic of discussion was the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
CACFP provides healthy, nutritious meals to about 32,000 infants and young children each day in Oregon who are in child care, Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Studies show healthy eating and good nutrition are critically important for all children, but particularly important for children ages 0-5 as their brains are rapidly developing.
“These early years are also a critical time to set healthy eating patterns and combat childhood obesity, which is a problem in one-quarter of two-to-five year olds,” notes Local 132 staff rep Faye Zepeda, who spent 16 years as a provider.
Bonamici visited Heaven Sent in Hillsboro, which is two neighboring houses operated by Christina Folsom-Nitzsche. One home includes 16 kids age 2-5, the other 16 infants up to 2-years-old. Folsom-Nitzsche told Bonamici that CACFP plays a critical role in educating children, families and the child care providers themselves about healthy nutrition and providing resources for at-risk children to eat healthy meals — but that Uncle Sam requires too much paperwork.
“For many children, the meals they eat in child care programs are the most nutritious meals they eat all week,” said Folsom-Nitzsche, who runs a unique organic, vegetarian-only operation. Folsom-Nitzsche told the congresswoman that low-income parents, in particular, rely on CACFP as a quality source of nutrition for their children.
Bonamici told Folsom-Nitzsche, Zepeda and Hillsboro provider Dora Krasteva, who was also on hand, that she was willing to champion CACFP in Washington, but that she wanted to hear first hand how to improve the program, which is up for reauthorization.
Folsom-Nitzsche said one key, dual improvement would be for meal reimbursements to be increased modestly (10 cents per meal) and for providers to be reimbursed for all meals and snacks they provide. Right now, CACFP will only reimburse for two meals and a snack, even though many children are in child care longer than 8 hours as their parents commute to work and back.
“I constantly pay for additional food for my children out of my own pocket,” Folsom-Nitzsche told Bonamici.
The two also talked about the possibility of reducing paperwork requirements, so that child care providers can focus on their kids and not endless forms. The reporting rules are particularly burdensome for the toddlers, said Folsom-Nitzsche. Bonamici promised her staff will review current requirements and look for ways to make the reporting system easier.
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