3.30.2012 Learn more about recent amendments to AB 1872 and make sure to get in your letters of support before AB 1872 heads to the Assembly Human Services Committee! Please fax your support letter no later than April 3rd (Tuesday) to Jim Beall, Chair of the Human Services Committee, at (916) 319-2189. (Please also fax a copy to CFPA at (510) 433-1131.)
Sample letters. doc.
It is important to remember that a personalized letter is far more effective than simply mailing in the sample letter with your signature. Personalize the letter and let the Assembly Committee on Human Services know why nutrition standards and/or increased access to the CACFP is important to you!
Bill Overview:
AB 1872 (Alejo) supports improved nutrition in licensed child care in two important ways:
(1) licensed family day care home providers would be obligated to comply with the easy, straightforward CACFP meal pattern (as is required of California’s licensed child care centers and licensed child care homes in 19 other states), and
(2) licensing authorities would be required to inform all licensed child care providers about the CACFP, including sharing information about CACFP eligibility, enrollment, and reimbursement as a means of promoting participation in the program.
Updates:
AB 1872 was amended this week to clarify that there would be no civil or criminal penalty assessed against providers who don’t understand the requirement or are still working on meeting the CACFP meal pattern. This bill is not about punishing providers. Rather, it is about promoting and supporting good nutrition in child care. The revised bill language seeks to highlight that the obligation to meet the CACFP meal pattern is an expectation and a goal all child care providers must strive to achieve. If, during a regular monitoring visit, licensing officials determine that a provider is out of compliance with the meal pattern, then licensing will deliver information to the provider to help him/her understand the meal pattern and its benefits, as well as information about the CACFP program. As the declaratory section of the bill now emphasizes, California is missing out on millions of dollars in federal meal reimbursements due to California’s low CACFP participation rate.
Read the bill, as amended. link
Questions? Contact Ellen Braff-Guajardo at 510.301.0824 or Elyse Homel Vitale at 619.501.8248.