Congressman Molinaro Visits New York Child Care 

A key provision of this legislation is to make CACFP reimbursement rates more equitable between family child care homes and child care centers, which Jessica is a firm advocate for. 

“The CACFP provides critical funding that allows providers to offer high quality nutritious meals to the children in their care. During this time of record inflation, congressional support is instrumental in ensuring that we can continue to provide these meals, mitigating the effects of food insecurity in our communities.”  

During the hour that Congressman Molinaro was visiting Jessica’s Daycare, a CACFP creditable meal was being prepared and he was able to hear about the type of meals that Jessica’s Daycare serves with the support of the food program. Jessica highlighted their Seed-to-Belly, a Farm to CACFP model that incorporates local produce and how it helps children understand how ingredients become food and can gain food preparation skills.  

At the end of his visit, Congressman Molinaro asked what mission or priority he could bring back to Washington. Jessica’s response was more support for child care. She explained that support for child care is support for the lowest income families and the work force as a whole. Although a significant initiative like universal child care seems out of reach, she cited that four dollars are returned for every dollar spent on child care initiatives. The child care industry has an positive impact on the economy and child success.  

Although it might seem daunting to speak directly with an elected official, speaking to officials helps them to do their job successfully and make meaningful change for their constituents.  

“We live in a high food insecurity community. People don’t have the ability to provide for themselves, which trickles down to their children. We need funding for our community. It’s important to talk to our representatives about our needs. Politicians can only advocate to the best of their knowledge. Seeing the needs of their community can shift their opinion.” 

Jessica herself has not always been an active advocate and had previously shied away from such activities. Then she recognized that people in positions of power aren’t intimidating but are there to work for you and take care of their constituents. She also recognized that someone needed to step up to the plate and make their voice heard, and when she didn’t see anyone else filling the need, she stepped into advocacy. While it still might be scary sometimes, Jessica says it’s much more rewarding. In fact, for the past couple of years, Jessica has worked as a CACFP Ambassador through New York Hunger Solutions.  

As a CACFP ambassador, she aims to build a community of support and advocates. She contacts local agencies to offer her mentorship to other providers that are considering joining the food program. She makes herself available to help other providers as much as possible to support them in building successful businesses. Since taking that first step into advocacy, Jessica has gone above and beyond to answer the call of her community and advocate for a system that supports provider, families, and children.  

By being consistent and inviting her congressional representative to visit her child care, Jessica was able to make a lasting impression on Congressman Molinaro. After his visit, the Congressman’s staff followed up with Jessica and shared that their conversations during the visit gave Molinaro a lot of thoughts about some upcoming policies. His staff also encouraged Jessica to reach out to their office directly whenever she has new information and sees a need in their community. 

Jessica’s advocacy made an impact on her lawmaker, and you can too. Send your elected officials a message through our action center and/or invite them to visit your child or adult care program.