For HB1894: HB1894 seeks to address the arguably unconstitutional, and undoubtedly inhumane conditions of Virginia prisons. 7 Virginia prisons currently have no central heating or cooling. In the winter, it gets so cold multiple inmates have needed to go to the hospital for hypothermia. it’s so cold that the water in the toilet freezes over while in the summer, it gets so hot that the walls sweat. This too has led to numerous incarcerated people being hospitalized for heat stroke. Medical complications associated with extreme heat or cold are often associated with expenses in excess of 10,000 dollars per hospitalization, a cost which the state bears the burden of. The fiscal impact of this legislation has been paired back significantly in order to ensure that we can take immediate steps to address the inhumane conditions in Virginia prisons. We urge you to support the legislation. For HB 1958: When it comes to free school meals the question on everyone’s mind is the same, why universal? First, significant numbers of students who are food insecure either do not meet existing eligibility requirements or are eligible and are not enrolled for other reasons including stigma. Not only does free school breakfast bridge these gaps in existing programs, but universally free breakfast is also more cost effective. On average, districts which have universal free school breakfast programs spend 58 cents less per breakfast than they cost in districts with means tested programs. This means that instead of spending money on paperwork, we can spend money on feeding hungry kids. Furthermore, children who experience food insecurity are 31% more likely to be hospitalized for health issues, in the short term costing in excess of $12,000. Cases where children are diagnosed with protein-calorie malnutrition can cost Medicaid as much as $1.25 million a for very young children. One in seven children in Virginia are hungry. We urge you to support this legislation and take one step towards eliminating child hunger in Virginia.

Comments Document

On behalf of Hamkae Center, we are in support of HB1958 . All children should have access to healthy meals. Costs of living continues to get higher and tight budgets for low-income families and busy morning schedules can mean that many students arrive at school hungry and not ready to learn. Some families may not know how to ask for additional assistance when it comes to financial difficulties and may not openly share their burdens to their children or to others. By providing free breakfasts, this eliminates the need to stigmatize students who may be in need. This bill ensures that no child should be left without food before the school day begins. Introducing universally free breakfasts increases math and reading test score gains by roughly 15 and 10 percent of a standard deviation on average, respectively. Students who participate in school breakfast show improved attendance, behavior, and academic performance as well as decreased tardiness. Thank you. Suja S. Mathew, Advocacy Manager

Childhood hunger is linked to academic struggles, difficulties focusing and concentrating, mental health disorders, and increased behavioral referrals. School meals help close the nutrition gap that exists for low-income families and play a critical role in youth dietary behaviors. Allowing school meals to all at no cost ensures all children in need will have access to adequate nutrition during the school day and eliminates the stigma many students face when such resources are not available to them. It’s the most fundamental thing we can do to help children be ready to learn at the start of the day.

Comments Document

My name is Melissa Jensen and I represent the Capital Area Food Bank, which is the largest charitable food provider in Northern Virginia. I am writing to ask you to vote yes to fully fund Del. Bennett-Parker's HB 1958, which would provide free school breakfast for all Virginia's students. There are over 252,000 food insecure children in Virginia. Childhood food insecurity is a detriment to healthy childhood development; school breakfast mitigates these negative outcomes. Research shows that breakfast helps children learn, improves attendance, and reduces behavior problems and tardiness. Children who eat breakfast at school – closer to test-taking time – perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home. Breakfast also promotes good health. Eating breakfast at school results in fewer visits to the school nurse, improves children’s diets, and helps build healthy habits. Research also found no negative impacts on student body mass index. During the 2023-2024 school year, 381,000 Virginia students ate breakfast daily, yet many barriers – including administrative burdens, social stigma, and school meal debt – prevent over half of low-income children from participating in school breakfast. Research also demonstrates that children of all income levels benefit from eating breakfast at school. There are a growing number of ALICE- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed -households that earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, so they do not qualify for federal benefits, but do not earn enough to afford the basics in their communities. The United Way estimates that 29% of Virginia households are ALICE. Similarly, CAFB found in our 2024 Hunger Report that the greatest rates of increase in food insecurity in the region were in the middle-income groups – households earning approximately $100k to $150k. School breakfast proves to be an important tool in educational equity but removing income restraints and reaching all children in need. Attached is my full written testimony with more detail. Thank you.

Please support HB 1958 to provide breakfast for all children. Pediatricians are dealing with a mental health crisis and an obesity epidemic amongst our youth. Food insecurity is a major factor in both these issues, and we know providing them with a healthy meal can have a positive impact on both. The cost of investing in our children now will be much less than the health care costs of treating medical conditions that result from poor physical and mental health. Healthy children become healthy adults and reduce the burden on our health care system. A well- fed child will do better in school and go on to be a more productive member of our community. Please support Virginia’s children, their struggling families and the health care workers who provide care for them.

Childhood hunger is linked to academic struggles, difficulties focusing and concentrating, mental health disorders, and increased behavioral referrals. School meals help close the nutrition gap that exists for low-income families and play a critical role in youth dietary behaviors. Allowing school meals to all at no cost ensures all children in need will have access to adequate nutrition during the school day and eliminates the stigma many students face when such resources are not available to them. It’s the most fundamental thing we can do to help children be ready to learn. The Virginia PTA supports HB1958.

I am writing on behalf of Greater Richmond Fit4Kids in support of HB 1958. We are a Richmond, VA-based nonprofit that provides nutrition and physical activity programming and education in multiple Central Virginia school districts, including Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico, Petersburg, and Hopewell. As school program providers, we see the positive effects of school breakfast on a regular basis, including improved student attendance and concentration, positive behavior, and reduced hunger and food insecurity. Providing free school breakfast to everyone would help reduce stigma as well as family household food costs, while ensuring that all students across Virginia have the nutrition they need to start the day ready to learn. Thank you for supporting all of Virginia’s students!

I was lucky enough to grow up in NYC where I had free lunch. Free breakfast is an even better idea. I worked for a time as an outreach instructor for Jamestown/Yorktown Foundation and saw children at times falling asleep in class which I think was due to getting out early with no breakfast. Children are are future, our most important investment in our country and need to be nourished. If we want them to be alert and interested in their education, we must do all we can to see that they have the energy to do that. They need a good start to the day. This applies to all of them. No child wants to be singled out as needy so all the children need to be offered a good, no-cost breakfast. Thank you.