HLS 15RS-769 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 81
BY REPRESENTATIVE THIERRY
SCHOOLS/FOOD PROGRAMS: Creates the Task Force on Summer Hunger
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To create the Task Force on Summer Hunger to study the strategies and best procedures by
3 which the state and individual school districts can increase awareness of and
4 participation in the United States Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service
5 Program in areas with high rates of food insecurity and to provide for a written report
6 of findings and recommendations to the House Committee on Education and the
7 Senate Committee on Education not later than sixty days prior to the beginning of
8 the 2016 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
9 WHEREAS, only fifty-five percent of children who eat free or reduced price lunch
10in the state of Louisiana receive school breakfast, and only nine percent of children who eat
11free or reduced price lunch receive summer meals; and
12 WHEREAS, the Summer Food Service Program is a federally funded program
13administered by the state Department of Education that ensures that low-income children
14continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session; and
15 WHEREAS, this summer, the program will serve more than two hundred million free
16meals nationwide at approved program sites, which are places in a community where
17children receive meals in a safe and supervised environment; and
18 WHEREAS, in 2011, an estimated thirty-five thousand students who received free
19or reduced price lunch in Louisiana lived in a parish without such sites; and
20 WHEREAS, it is imperative that a group of experts be convened to conduct a
21thorough investigation of strategies and procedures for increasing awareness of and
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1participation in the United States Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service
2Program in order to ensure that students in Louisiana receive nutritious summer meals.
3 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
4create the Task Force on Summer Hunger to study the strategies and procedures by which
5the state and individual school districts can increase awareness of and participation in the
6United States Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program in areas with high
7rates of food insecurity.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be chaired by the director
9of the state Department of Education Division of Nutrition Support and shall be composed
10of the following members:
11 (1) The chairman of the House Committee on Education.
12 (2) The chairman of the Senate Committee on Education.
13 (3) The superintendent of the East Baton Rouge Parish School District or his
14designee.
15 (4) The superintendent of the Recovery School District or his designee.
16 (5) The superintendent of the Caddo Parish School District or his designee.
17 (6) The superintendent of the Cameron Parish School District or his designee.
18 (7) The superintendent of the Caldwell Parish School District or his designee.
19 (8) The superintendent of the Terrebonne Parish School District or his designee.
20 (9) A representative of the Louisiana Food Bank Association.
21 (10) A representative of the Louisiana Association of United Ways.
22 (11) A representative of the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall submit a written report of
24findings and recommendations to the House Committee on Education and the Senate
25Committee on Education not later than sixty days prior to the beginning of the 2016 Regular
26Session of the Legislature of Louisiana and that such recommendations shall include but not
27be limited to those relative to the following:
28 (1) The best practices to address the special challenges present in operating the
29Summer Food Service Program in rural areas, including recommendations relative to
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HCR NO. 81
1transportation in rural areas and strategies to maintain participation at a high enough level
2to hold down costs per meal.
3 (2) The Community Eligibility Provision of the National School Lunch Program.
4 (3) The Seamless Summer Option of the Summer Food Service Program.
5 (4) The eligibility of homeless parents and children to participate in the Summer
6Food Service Program.
7 (5) The recruitment and retention of sponsors for the Summer Food Service
8Program.
9 (6) The involvement of school districts, churches, community centers, summer camp
10programs, and residential programs.
11 (7) The promotion of the Summer Free Lunch Program and strategies to increase
12community awareness and participation.
13 (8) Legislation, if any, relative to the issue.
14 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state superintendent of education shall be
15responsible for designating state Department of Education staff to assist the task force in
16performing its duties.
17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
18entities named in this Resolution to serve or be represented on the task force.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 81 Original 2015 Regular Session Thierry
Establishes the Task Force on Summer Hunger to study strategies and best procedures by
which the state and individual school districts can increase awareness of and participation
in the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program in areas with high rates
of food insecurity. Provides for a written report of findings and recommendations to the
House and Senate education committees not later than 60 days prior to the beginning of the
2016 R. S.
The task force shall be chaired by the director of the state Dept. of Education (DOE)
Division of Nutrition Support and composed of the following members:
(1)The chairman of the House Committee on Education.
(2)The chairman of the Senate Committee on Education.
(3)The superintendent of East Baton Rouge Parish School District or his designee.
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HCR NO. 81
(4)The superintendent of the Recovery School District or his designee.
(5)The superintendent of the Caddo Parish School District or his designee.
(6)The superintendent of the Cameron Parish School District or his designee.
(7)The superintendent of the Caldwell Parish School District or his designee.
(8)The superintendent of the Terrebone Parish School District or his designee.
(9)A representative of the La. Food Bank Association.
(10)A representative of the La. Association of United Ways.
(11)A representative of the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Specifies that the state superintendent of education shall designate DOE staff to assist the
task force in performing duties.
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