REIMBURSEMENT TO DAY CARE HOMES AND DAY CARE  

       CENTERS FOR NUTRITIOUS FOOD SERVED TO CHILDREN.

HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION

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    ECCI was incorporated on May 20, 1983 as a nonprofit private, tax exempt organization to sponsor nutrition and education service to children in day care homes and is a publicly supported organization under Section 501-C3 of the IRS Code, EIN # 17423587322  Operations consist of reimbursements to day care homes and day care centers for meals served to children under their care and administrative costs.  All seed funds/startup costs were provided by Romeo Villarreal, a local businessman and educator and Luis Ramirez a Local Attorney.  A policy-making Board oversees the Program and is administered by an Executive Director. 

FUNDING & ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS  

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  U S Department of Agriculture Funds the program. The Texas Department of Agriculture administers this program under the Child and Adult Care Food Program guidelines.    

        
In 1968 the Child Care Food Program was established by Congress.  It integrated nutritious meals with organized child care services.            
The Texas Department of Agriculture Special Nutrition Program administers the sponsorship through their eight-regional offices, statewide. Day Care Home scan only participate in the Program under a sponsoring organization such as ourselves.  Child Care centers have the option of participating directly under the Texas Department of Agriculture or a Sponsor. 

MISSION STATEMENT 

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   Facilitate the reimbursement to day care homes for meals served to eligible children directing its human and financial resources to achieve this objective in conformance with applicable regulations. This program ensures that these children are being fed nutritious meals to give them a start in life.  The meals that are served in these day cares may be the only nutritious meals these children receive for the day.   

RECIPIENTS OF THIS PROGRAM   

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Not only does this program ensure that these children are fed properly and learn about nutritious foods, but it also supplements the income of the day care owner so that the nutritious meals are purchased with these monies. 

ECONOMIC IMPACT TO SOUTH TEXAS 

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 Source:  ECCI Records --  since 1991 this program has been bringing in from $2 million to $2.3 million dollars annually and disbursed to providers from Corpus Christi to Laredo, to Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley; 300 to 500 “small business owners” of day cares are being supplemented annually through this Agency.   Eligible day care homes that have 12 children or less qualify for this program.  They are reimbursed for each child depending on tier: T1: $1.31/T2: $0.48 for breakfast; $2.46/T2: $1.48 for lunch and supper and T1: $0.73/T2: $0.20 for snacks.  Child Care Centers are reimbursed according to the category of low-income children from: 

 

                    Breakfast      Lunch/Supper    Snack  

Paid              $0.31            $0.31                   $0.08

Reduced      $1.49            $2.91                   $1.45

Free             $1.79             $3.31                   $0.91

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The non-discrimination statement and complaint-filing procedure is:

The U.S Department of Agriculture prohibits discrimination against its  customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the bases of race,  color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual’s income is derived  from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in  employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the  Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov. 

Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339; or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish). 

For any other information dealing with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) issues, persons should either contact the USDA SNAP Hotline Number at (800) 221-5689, which is also in Spanish or call the State Information/Hotline Numbers at 211 or 1-877-541-7905 / 1-877-787-8999

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.