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The CACFP Leadership and Policy track at the Anti-Hunger Policy Conference was once again motivating and inspiring this year. We heard from Secretary Vilsack, Senators Stabenow and Boozman, USDA Leadership and experts in the CACFP field. Secretary Vilsack shared the guiding principles of USDA under his leadership which are:
Congratulations!
President Biden will soon sign the American Rescue Plan after it was approved by the Senate earlier today. In this plan comes much needed relief for child care and afterschool programs! We congratulate all of the advocates on the provisions in the American Rescue Plan that provide the billions of dollars in relief for both child care and afterschool. What does it include for child care? Secretary Vilsack is no stranger to USDA and our federal nutrition programs! Tom Vilsack was confirmed by the Senate for a second round of the Cabinet post as Secretary of USDA in the Biden administration. Mr. Vilsack was the Secretary of USDA for 8 years under the Obama administration.
We'll be joining our friends at FRAC, the CCFP Roundtable and many other anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocates on 2/22/21 to tell Congress to Pass the American Rescue Plan. There's a toolkit to help share on social media and everything. Take a look at FRAC's action alert (link)! Call your Members of Congress on Monday and join the tweetstorm on Monday from 1:00 p.m.-2:00p.m. Eastern.  In December, CACFP emergency funding was passed in the latest stimulus package. In January, USDA released guidelines for how the emergency operational cost reimbursement program is going to work. Now, it is in the states hands to apply, follow a timeline, and tell USDA how they plan to disburse the funds.
The National CACFP Forum and CCFP Roundtable have worked together to provide recommendations to the States "to develop a disbursement plan that is easy to navigate and without undue burden on CACFP sponsors and sites." At the highest level, the recommendations include:
Read the full letter and details of the recommendations here. The Forum and the Roundtable are sharing this letter with the CACFP community in the hopes that it will be a resource the CACFP community can use to start your own conversations with your states. The Roundtable has provided this letter to the California Department of Education and USDA Western Region Office.
CACFP Responses to COVID-19: Lessons Learned, Residual Issues, and Outstanding Concerns2/11/2021 - Webinar with USDA Providing Overview of Guidance for P-EBT in Child Care and Schools2/9/2021
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