Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Nutrition Food Security topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hunger advocates urge SNAP recertification fix and $182K to support CACFP sponsors
Summary
Hunger Free Vermont and CACFP sponsor organizations requested administrative changes to reduce SNAP churn and a $182,000 appropriation to the Agency of Education to stabilize Child and Adult Care Food Program sponsors serving family child-care homes.
Hunger and child-nutrition advocates told the House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 23 that relatively small administrative and one-time budget changes in the Budget Adjustment Act could preserve food access for vulnerable Vermonters.
Ivy Enoch, SNAP Policy and Training Lead at Hunger Free Vermont, asked the committee to direct the Department for Children and Families Economic Services Division to “maximize its use of discretionary months” authorized by USDA to reduce the number of SNAP participants who lose benefits each month. Enoch said nearly 200 people monthly were falling off the rolls and that using discretionary months would draw down federal benefits without added state cost.
Multiple witnesses requested $182,000 to the Agency of Education to bolster sponsor organizations that administer the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for family child-care homes. Pat Sergi of Capstone Community Action, Autumn Moen of Hunger Free Vermont and representatives from other CACFP sponsor organizations said the number of sponsors declined from seven several years ago to three in 2024, creating administrative strain. Sergi said Capstone took on additional counties on Oct. 1 and faces a funding deficit; Brock Community Action reported subsidizing last year’s CACFP shortfall and providing 156,000 meals to 469 children.
Witnesses argued that without sponsor organizations, family child-care homes — which serve thousands of children — could lose access to federally reimbursed meals and snacks. The requested $182,000 is intended as an incentive distributed among sponsoring organizations to ensure continued participation and sustain meal access for early-childhood settings. The committee did not take a vote at the hearing.
