PARKERSBURG - The Child Care Food Program that was housed at the Parkersburg YWCA before it closed last year, has set up shop at the Volunteer Action Center at the Dils Center.
After a month in their new location, the CCFP held an open house Monday. After the YWCA closed last November, the CCFP found a new sponsorship with the VAC.
''We were with the YWCA for 22 years,'' said Lynn Greenly, local program director. ''When the YWCA closed last November then had to find a new sponsor who could take us on, but it had to be through a nonprofit organization, which led us to the VAC.''
The Child Care Food Program is a nationally funded program, sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture and administered by the West Virginia Department of Education, Greenly said.
''The program provides meal reimbursements for children in family daycare in over 100 homes in a 10-county area,'' she said of coverage in Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Pleasants Ritchie, Roane, Tyler, Wirt and Wood counties. ''This is the same program which does the free and reduced school lunch program.
''This program is offered to providers who care for children in their homes, so it is for at-home daycare providers. Right now, we are serving 768 children.''
After being certified by the Department of Health and Human Resources to be involved in the program as a formal or informal provider, participants can be reimbursted for money spent on food for these children. The reimbursement income is tax free and people who provide daycare in their homes are encouraged to participate in this program, Greenly said.
A formal provider can watch up to six children in a home or 12 in a facility. An informal provider can be a grandparent or another relative who care for related children in their home.
They visit the daycare homes three times a year to make sure they are meeting all of the requirements, she said, adding the program also provides training, workshops, nutrition education, meal planning and more.
''Participants have to plan, prepare and serve meals and snacks that must meet USDA guidelines,'' Greenly said. ''They have to keep written menus of meals and snacks, keep attendance records and daily meal count records.
''You can claim two meals and one snack or two snacks and one meal per child per day.''
The VAC was able to take over sponsorship of the program by showing how their programs were compatable with the mission and goals of the CCFP, said Wendy Tuck, executive director of the Volunteer Action Center in Parkersburg.
''It is wonderful to have them here,'' she said. ''It is exciting. They have a wonderful program. They have high-energy people. They are very dedicated and committed. The Volunteer Action Center is all about providing excellent services.
''I feel like they will fit right in. They are really meeting some basic needs people have as the economy gets worst, people may need home-based incomes, and this is a great program for that. We will do everything we can to support the program, promote it and let people know about it.''
