In accordance with Council approved Ordinance 2011-1001, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) applied for and was awarded a grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to cover the cost of offering free meals and snacks to children participating in at-risk afterschool programs.
In accordance with Council approved Ordinance 2013-0025, the City of Houston awarded a six month contract with four one-year option terms (four and a half years total) to Dean's Nutritional Food Service Inc. to supply an estimated 1,500 average daily meals and snacks for the HPARD After-School Meals Program. The total amount projected for the four and a half-year contract was limited to a maximum of $3,350,160 to be funded by the CACFP grant.
After-School Meal Program Site Eligibility Criteria:
· Site must be zoned to a school that has 51% or more of students receiving free or reduced lunch.
· Site provides an enrichment activity.
· Site is a school, daycare facility, facility with a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) license waiver, or the facility operates for less than 2 hours.
Eligible sites must complete the following steps for TDA approval to participate in the program:
· Step 1: The site must complete a two part application which includes the site eligibility application and the application agreement.
· Step 2: The site returns the completed application with a copy of their sites license, DFPS waiver and/or leaflet showing hours of operation to be less than 2 hours (all sites must turn in a program leaflet).
· Step 3: The qualifying school that the site is zoned to must be verified through the school district website or district office, and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report printed for submission with the site application.
· Step 4: All site application documents are submitted to HPARD Director for signature.
· Step 5: After-School Meal Program staff submit the site application to the TDA Texas Unified Nutrition Programs System (TX-UNPS) website, and scanned copies of the complete application are e-mailed to TDA.
· Step 6: TDA reviews site application and approves site, typically within 2 weeks.
The After-School Meal program started in February 2013 with 57 TDA-approved sites including 53 HPARD Community Centers. In order to grow the program and feed more children, After-School Meal Program staff recruited additional sites through referrals and by emailing, calling and visiting eligible sites from the Summer Food Service Program and the DFPS listed child-care programs.
The actual number of meals approved by TDA and served per year is listed below and the current approved list of sites is attached.
|
Program Year
|
Number of Sites
|
Avg Daily Meals
|
|
2013
|
48
|
1,002
|
|
2014
|
72
|
1,721
|
|
2015
|
68
|
1,726
|
|
2016
|
70
|
1,778
|
In order to provide the higher than anticipated number of after-school meals and snacks as approved by the Texas Department of Agriculture, HPARD recommends City Council approve an Ordinance authorizing a first amendment to increase the Dean’s Nutritional Food Service Inc. maximum contract capacity of $3,350,160 by an additional $1,172,556 – a 35% increase – for a maximum total contract amount of $4,522,716. The proposed increase provides for the expenditures needed until the expiration of the contract period on May 30, 2017.
Director’s Signature:
________________________________________
Joe Turner