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Every child in Navarro County is physically and mentally healthy and has access to care.

Indicator 1.4: % of children experiencing food insecurity

Current Value

18.7%

2021

Definition

Line Bar Comparison

Story Behind the Curve

What are the positive factors that are contributing to you reaching your desired result?

  •  Schools: When schools are open they provide food to kids for breakfast and lunch. In the summer, all kids can pick up lunch and sometimes even breakfast.
  •  Access to food pantries in the county: Compassion, Northside Care Center, Salvation Army, etc. 
  •  Churches and schools: provide backpacks for weekends and holidays. 
  •  Public assistance: SNAP and WIC provide food for low-income families. 

What are the negative factors that are restricting you from reaching your desired result?

  •  COVID-19: Loss of employment for families leading to loss of income. 
  •  Citizenship: fear of signing up for public assistance and reaching out for help
  •  Transportation: ability to pick-up food at schools during virtual learning
  •  Rural county schools: small group of students, not offering school lunch supports remotely. 
  •  Food deserts: places in rural areas where you can't walk to food. 
  •  Locations where SNAP is accepted
  •  Lack of resources to purchase food. 

What populations are the most disadvantaged and what causes these disparities?

  •  Rural communities: food deserts
  •  Non-english speaking
  •  Low socioeconomic status-less funds, make choices between necessities
  •  Grandparents raising grandchildren: lack of knowledge of eligible services to assist families

Are there foreseeable factors that will affect your work over the next few months to a year?

  •  COVID-19: Continued job losses and uncertainty
  •  Election year: potential change in administration
  •  How many children will attend school in person this year?

What additional research is needed to better understand the factors that influence the slope of the curve and related disparities? 

  •  Correlation between eligibility for free and reduced lunches and food insecurity
  •  How many kids access free and reduced lunches out of thos who qualify?
  •  How does COVID effect rates of eligibility next year?
  •  How has being away from healthy meals at school effected child health?

Partners

Who are the partners that can help you reach your desired outcome? List partners and their roles.

  •  Residents/Parents: Educated about their options
  •  Early Childhood Coalition 
  •  Schools
  •  Churches
  • Non-profits
  • Doctors/healthcare providers: educating parents on healthy diet
  • Social media
  •  Texas A&M AgriLife programs

What Works

Research/Evidence-Based Practices:

  •  Expanding free breakfast and lunches to all students
  •  Food deserts: placing grocery stores in food deserts so people can access food
  •  Expanding transportation: so families can get to grocery stores and other non-profit resources

Low Cost/No Cost Solutions:

  •  Public Health Campagin: letting people know about SNAP and WIC and helping people get enrolled
  •  Grocery delivery: waiving additional delivery fees or providing gift cards to families to get rid of those
  •  Delivery to young families: similar to Meal and Wheels

Innovative/Out-the-Box Solutions: 

  •  Community support: Allowing HEB/Grocers to sponsor families to provide food for weekends and breakfast
  •  Supporting job training for parents so they can be employed
  •  Provide ESL classes in schools to parents so they can ask questions and advocate for their families
  •  Summer meals site food truck to go out to different sites.
  • Partnering with churches to offer community meals and information about local resources. Engage Pastors to come as spiritual support. 

Additional Research:

  •  For districts who have given free lunch and breakfast to all students, what was their costs for that and how did they pay for those?
  •  How do other communities get grocery stores invested in providing food support to their students?
  •  How do we engage local food pantries and congregations?

Strategy

What Strategy By Whom (Partners) By When
Expanding free breakfast and lunches for all School districts Fall 2021
Grocery delivery: waiving fees or providing gifts cards to offset costs Grocery stores/Trusts/Schools ASAP
Supporting job training for families at schools Non-profits/Schools January 2021
Public Health Campaign: Letting people know about SNAP and WIC Non-profits/schools December 2020

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