By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – It’s harder than you think to give away money.
Just ask Nena Cittadino, who heads the Nutrition Education Services division in St. Tammany Parish, a branch of the federal government’s assistance program that pays people to care for kids in their home, and ensuring they eat nutritious food and snacks.
While many people reading this may be shaking their heads and thinking, “what a scam,” Cittadino knows full well why that is the reaction.
“Believe it or not, the biggest problem in operating this program is that so many people don’t believe it’s for real. They think it’s a scam,” she said.
The Nutrition Education Services (NES) program funded by the federal government was created in 1948 when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt headed a movement to ensure children have a basic right to eat nutritious food. It was part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Since that time, NES has supported the program that has provided approximately $1.9 billion for healthy meals and snacks to over 3.2 million children.
Locally, the program has been in operation since 1992 and is registered with the Louisiana Department of Education’s Food and Nutrition Department.
Cittadino and her staff are the local directors of the NES program that is, believe it or not, looking for people to pay for taking care of children in their home and feeding them nutritious meals and snacks. Cittadino said that even if your household income is relatively high, you probably qualify for the program that will reimburse individuals who care for children in their home.
“This cannot be people taking care of their own children, at least not in most cases,” she said. “It’s mainly grandparents who keep their grandchildren so their children can work, or if you keep someone else’s kids, then there is a good chance you could be reimbursed for the food you feed them.”
Cittadino said the program is actually a bit confusing to the average person, and that’s why she and her staff are paid to be the local experts. All it takes is a phone call to the local staff at 985-641-5051 and they will listen to your situation, and let you know if you qualify.
Meals are paid for up to six children a day, with payments of $1.31 for breakfast, $2.47 for lunch and 73 cents for snacks.
“We have some people who get as much as $500 to $600 reimbursed each month. It depends on how many children you are caring for, and other factors,” Cittadino said. “But truly this is not a scam—it’s a government program that was set up to help people who are going to work, but can barely afford childcare. That is where it helps.”
Cittadino said the plan the government seeks is that daycare workers would charge less to the individual for keeping the children, since they are receiving money from the government. That was all to help people be able to put their kids in daycare, and still go to work.
Ann Van Court has been working with Cittadino with the NES program for 17 years and said she originally connected with it when she received assistance for taking care of two children in her home. But she also had to overcome the objections of her husband, who didn’t believe it was true.
“I was watching two children of a teacher and I saw a flyer about this,” she said. “I called and Nena said I qualified. But when I told my husband, he immediately said, ‘it’s a scam. No one gives you money back for feeding the kids in your home.’ But I found out it was true, and then I ended up coming to work for her.”
Cittadino, 79, is a Louisiana native who grew up in Tickfaw, graduating from Independence High School with a 4.0 GPA that earned her a scholarship offer to business school. After staying home to raise her four children, she went back to work in 1966 with a morning paper delivery route, and was later the circulation manager at the former Slidell Daily Times.
She and her recently deceased husband Ron were married for 56 years before she heard about the NES program and started it locally in 1992. She has been the local director ever since and still struggles to get people to believe it’s true.
“Not only is it true, but we are really diligent in making sure no one takes advantage of this money,” she said. “We check the homes every three months to make sure you are really keeping the kids you say. We’ve passed every audit we’ve ever had in over 20 years. I want this money to go to people who deserve it, and are helping people go to work who can’t afford daycare and need a break.”
For more information, call NES at 641-5051 or 1-800-489-5051.