Cooking Up "At-Risk" Suppers

More than a year ago, through an amendment to the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000, Pennsylvania became one of six states authorized to use funds provided by the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to serve suppers to youth under the At-Risk Program. Has Pennsylvania taken advantage of that opportunity?

Here's how the program works. Children through age 18 years are regarded as "At-Risk" if they reside in a community or neighborhood in which 50 percent of more of the children are certified to receive free or reduced price lunch. CACFP funds may be used to provide snacks or suppers to these youth if they are participating in an after school program that includes educational or enrichment activities. The reimbursement rate is $0.57 for snacks and $2.09 for suppers.

The program has at least three purposes: healthy children and youth; strong community youth programs; and the prevention of juvenile crime, much of which occurs in the hours immediately after school ends for the day.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) reports it has 34 organizations sponsoring 160 sites in the At-Risk Program. PDE's current technology cannot distinguish those providing snacks from those providing suppers. Within a few months, after a change in software, PDE expects to be able to document participation in each arm of the program.

We do know that a variety of sponsors have begun to fund suppers through the Program.

Richard Venezia, Coordinator of Food Programs for the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, reports that his agency serves suppers to 880 children a day, five days a week at 16 public housing sites. Some suppers are served on Saturdays. Children are served in the congregate dining area where they also have structured enrichment activities.

Allegheny County isn't just chasing the federal dollars; it began serving evening meals before federal funding became available in December 2000. Venezia stated: "So far the program works very well for us. We're hoping to increase participation and availability by being an umbrella organization to help other community programs that might want to serve suppers." Initially the County hired staff to prepare the meals. In September they began contracting with Nutrition, Inc., a food service management company, to prepare and deliver the suppers.

The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in Harrisburg utilizes the At-Risk Program for suppers in two Kid's Café sites. Executive director Kendall Hanna reported, "We couldn't be more pleased to have the Department of Education as a partner in our fight against childhood hunger. The CACFP is critical to our ability to provide meals to hungry children." His food bank serves 5 meals per week to 100 children through its two cafes at Central Allison Hill Community Center and the Salvation Army in Harrisburg.

Food banks in Philadelphia, Reading and Wilkes-Barre are also gearing up to utilize the federal funds to support their Kids Café sites. The Greater Berks Food Bank serves suppers at 18 locations, four of which are supported by the At-Risk Program. Director Peg Bianca plans to use At-Risk funds for all sites eventually. The Greater Philadelphia Food Bank serves suppers to youth at 23 locations; currently the At-Risk Program supports two of those sites.

To qualify as a sponsor in the At-Risk Program, an organization must demonstrate to PDE that it has a structured enrichment program for the youth, appropriate inspections, and food storage/handling equipment appropriate to the task. The program works and is ready and available for community organizations to use. It is a wonderful opportunity for all agencies that offer youth programming, including those funded by the newly appropriated $15 million Youth Development initiative. For more information call Susan Still at PDE at 1-800-331-0129.

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