Urge Missouri Senator to renew funding of CHIP, a children's program that fights hunger

Tina, the child of a single mother in Missouri, ate breakfast and lunch every day at public school as part of the free and reduced-cost meal program funded by the federal government. She needed this extra support because her mother was unable to make ends meet, although she worked two jobs and took night school classes. Still, she had three very young children to support.
Tina never talked to her friends about her family’s situation growing up. Embarrassed, she didn’t think her friends could understand her situation. With nutritious meals before and during the school day, as well as other support such as free school supplies, and school clothing and outerwear provided by a local nonprofit agency, Tina excelled in elementary and secondary school and attends a highly ranked private university in Missouri as an honors student.

In 2009, an estimated one in 5 Missouri children were living in poverty. In 2013, that number had risen to one in 4.  In 2008, 13.4% of Missourians lived in poverty, 16.3% by last year. In other words, 179,000 more people lived in poverty in Missouri in 2014 than in 2008, and now almost 950,000 people live in poverty in our state. More than 400,000 live in extreme poverty. Federal nutrition programs are a lifeline for children living in poverty. The federal free school breakfast and lunch program that helped Tina is designed to alleviate domestic hunger and is sorely needed because food pantries and other charities are unable to meet the community needs.

To fight hunger, Congress needs to continue to fund child nutrition programs. One existing law, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (also known as Child Nutrition Reauthorization), is set to expire Sept. 30, 2015. This law supports essential programs such as free school breakfasts and lunches during the academic year that Tina received. It also supports summer feeding programs and after-school feeding programs.

Such child nutrition programs touch the lives of millions of low-income children daily, and reauthorization provides an opportunity to improve and strengthen these programs. Research demonstrates the ability of child nutrition programs to improve educational achievement, economic security, nutrition and health.

Please urge Congress to fully fund Child Nutrition Reauthorization this year. Contact Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, to ask for his support for Child Nutrition Reauthorization.

Another critical federal program that assists children in poverty is the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). For nearly two decades, CHIP has been an essential source of health insurance coverage for families, ensuring access to high quality, affordable, pediatric-appropriate health care for children in working families whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to purchase private health insurance. CHIP has played a critical role in reducing the number of uninsured children by more than 50 percent while improving health outcomes and access to care for children and pregnant women across the nation.
The CHIP program has been extended through 2019 but is funded only through this year. Unless Congress acts, this highly successful and critically needed program will end in most states – including Missouri – in less than one year. Health care analysts believe nearly 2 million children nationwide could lose health insurance should CHIP fail to be funded in a timely manner. Please urge your members of Congress to extend CHIP for four more years. Take action to keep Child Nutrition Reauthorization and CHIP programs funded to serve children like Tina so that they, too, can succeed in school and in life.