The Food Research & Action Center’s report, Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation, found that the number of children receiving afterschool meals through two federal programs inched up 4 percent from October 2016 to October 2017, when nearly 61,000 children received a snack or meal on an average day.
Most of the growth occurred in the Child and Adult Care Food Program’s At-Risk Afterschool Supper and Snack Program, which was established through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
On an average day in October 2017, nearly 20,000 New Jersey children received an afterschool supper through this program – up 13 percent from the year before. At the same time, the number of suppers served soared nearly 26 percent.