A July 8 Congressional briefing hosted by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and the Afterschool Alliance laid out some surprising facts and inspiring optimism about this fall’s opportunity to build a better food program for the nation’s vulnerable children. CFK has this field report.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues that on a dollar-for-dollar basis, temporary increases in safety net programs like food stamps and unemployment insurance and fiscal relief to states are among the most effective job-creation investments in the proposed Obama recovery package, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the jobs generated by the package in 2009 and 2010, even though the amounts spent in these areas would likely be much smaller than two-fifths of the cost of the package.

Feeding America, formerly Second Harvest, is urging you to contact Congress to address hunger among working families.

The USDA offers the latest data on food stamps and what they cover.

A simplified version of the USDA Summer Food Service Program has just gone national. It lessens the paperwork involved for groups or out-of-school time programs that want to incorporate summer meals.

The USDA "Summer Food Service Program Map Machine" finds summer food program sites by zip code or other locators, detailing the characteristics of the local neighborhood and schools.

While just over half -- 56 percent -- of eligible people in the United States received food stamp benefits in 2003, a new policy brief from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., finds that participation rates varied widely from state to state. In fact, 22 states had rates that were significantly higher than the national rate and 16 had rates that were significantly lower.

Between 2002 and 2003, Oregon, Tennessee, Missouri, DC, Maine, Louisiana, West Virginia, Hawaii, and Kentucky had significantly higher participation rates than two-thirds of the states, and Maryland, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Utah, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Nevada, and Massachusetts had significantly lower rates than two-thirds of the states. During fiscal year 2005, the program served over 25 million people in an average month at a total annual cost of over $28 billion in benefits, excluding disaster assistance provided as a result of hurricanes in September 2005.

Across the country, just over half (54 percent) of eligible people received food stamp benefits in 2002—but rates among states vary widely, according to an April 2005 brief from the nonpartisan Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Provides information on family services, family child care homes, adoption, scholarships, elder care, volunteers, and non-profit spouse clubs. A helpful source of information on programs, and eligibility requirements for the US Coast Guard.

Most low-income families with children don't get all of the help they should, partly because it is so hard to find out what's available and fill out the paperwork. This article, originally from the September-October 2004 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children, shows how in California, community agencies are helping.