Reducing Childhood Hunger in Kansas

Executive Summary

Children in Kansas need adequate nutrition for their physical and mental development. Tens of thousands of Kansas children struggle with food insecurity every day – meaning they are not sure when or if their next meal will come. Many federal child nutrition programs are available to meet Kansas kids’ nutritional needs, but Kansas is not taking full advantage of them.

Families living in poverty need outside assistance to meet their children’s nutritional needs, but private programs have limited resources and government programs are not available in many parts of Kansas – especially the rural areas. Additionally, administrative obstacles for government programs are often so burdensome that families are effectively denied access to the program because they can’t complete program application requirements.

In Kansas, childhood hunger could be reduced significantly if advocacy efforts focused on increasing children’s access to ensure the maximum participation of eligible children and families in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the School Breakfast Program (SBP), the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), the At-Risk Afterschool Meals Component of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Anti-hunger advocates can help reduce childhood hunger in Kansas by encouraging legislators to pass laws making it easier for schools and communities to expand child nutrition programs in their areas; advocates can also encourage legislators to pass laws prohibiting state agencies from creating unnecessary administrative burdens that prevent eligible families from accessing food assistance and other safety net programs. Advocates can encourage school district leaders to adopt innovative meal delivery models to ensure more children have access to school meals, and advocates can encourage other local leaders to establish community-level summer and afterschool meal programs.

Our administrative and elected leaders at the state and local levels need to enact laws and policies that facilitate and prioritize participation in federal child nutrition programs. By facilitating increases in children’s participation in these nutrition programs, Kansas can ensure tens of thousands more children receive the nutrition they’ve been missing.