Press Releases

Today, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, chaired by Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN), held a hearing to examine the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), discuss its importance, and address known challenges within the program.

“In America today, nearly 1 in 4 children live in households below the poverty line. Of these kids, over one million are classified as food insecure, meaning their parents cannot or do not provide consistent access to enough nutritious food for the child to be healthy,” said Chairman Rokita in his opening statement.

Chairman Rokita continued, “The summer program provides meals to children from qualified households during the summer months. In 2017, the program served over 152 million meals to over 2 million children. Like many government-created programs, it has its challenges.”

Mr. Gil Harden, Assistant Inspector General for Audit at the USDA, elaborated upon some of these programmatic weaknesses.

Harden explained, “SFSP’s program structure has presented challenges that leave the program susceptible to potential improper payments. Past monitoring—reviews conducted by FNS [USDA Office of Food and Nutrition Service] and State agencies, or OIG investigations and audits—has identified systemic vulnerabilities and their consequences.”

Another obstacle within the program is ensuring that children who need a healthy meal can access them in their community. 

“States and SFSP providers reported challenges with issues related to meal site availability, children’s participation, and program administration, though federal, state, and local entities had taken steps to improve these areas,” said Ms. Kathryn Larin, the Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security at GAO. “For example, a lack of available transportation, low population density, and limited meal sites posed challenges for SFSP implementation in rural areas, according to states we surveyed, selected national organizations, and state and local officials in the three states we visited.” 

Those challenges aside, the program is still one that plays a vital role in the lives of children across the country. Mrs. Denise Ogilvie, Vice President of Outreach and Grants Management for Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas explained to members the importance of the summer program in her state of Kansas. 

Ogilvie said, “The Summer Meals Program plays a critical role not only in Kansas but across the country in closing the meal gap.”

According to Ogilvie, more than 14 percent of households in Kansas face food insecurity, meaning that many children across the state are vulnerable to hunger. Seeing this need, Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas began participating in the Summer Food Service Program in 2015 with eight meal sites that served more than 3,000 meals. Since then, their program has only grown. 

“By 2017 our effort had grown to 32 sites serving approximately 800 children with over 15,000 meals. At the same time Kansas moved from 49th to 45th in summer meals program participation,” Ogilvie said.

Success stories like that of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas are the reason the Summer Food Service Program is so important. The Committee on Education and the Workforce will continue to examine the SFSP and address programmatic challenges so that the country’s most vulnerable children have access to the nutrition they need. 

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