Landsman Reintroduces Legislation to Boost Funding for Child Care Providers and Improve Nutrition for Children

Cincinnati, OH – Today, Congressman Greg Landsman (D-OH-01) reintroduced legislation to increase funding for child care providers and improve child care nutrition.

Congressman Landsman reintroduced the Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act – legislation to address the financial challenges child care providers face who utilize the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). This federal program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reimburses child care providers for meals and snacks served to more than 4.2 million children daily in participating family child care homes, centers, Head Start programs, and after school programs.

Child care providers are facing significant financial barriers operating the Child and Adult Care Food Program due to insufficient reimbursement rates and outdated policies – issues that further exacerbate the ongoing child care crisis in the country. For example, some family child care providers receive as little as $0.59 for breakfasts and $1.88 for lunches and dinners. The Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act would increase the reimbursements for breakfasts to $1.75 and to $3.22 for lunches and dinners.

In real dollars, the Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act would mean:

• A family child care provider serving 7 children could receive an additional $475 a month or $5,700 a year in reimbursements
• A Head Start program or child care center serving 100 children could receive an additional $600 a month or $7,200 a year in reimbursements

Congressman Landsman:

“There’s a child care crisis in this country, and we need commonsense leadership and solutions to address the challenges. Increasing reimbursements is essential to closing the gap between food preparation costs and the limited support child care providers currently receive through the CACFP. By putting forward these responsible legislative solutions – that would invest real dollars in our child care providers – they’ll be able to remain open and improve the meals they serve to children every day.”

The full text of Congressman Landsman’s Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act can be found here.

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