Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1988 — MANA Program Offers Quality Child Care [ARTICLE]

MANA Program Offers Quality Child Care

By Deborah Lee Ward Editor As increasing numbers of families today need both parents to work to meet high costs of living, quality child care at affordable prices is in high demand. Providing this child care is an important profession and a potential business that Hawaiians should consider, say the directors of the Makua Aloha Nurturing Association (MANA). Now four months old, MANA is non-profit organization that is a loeal sponsor of the Hawai'i Child Care Food program. Through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Child Care Food Program, MANA provides money to licensed child care providers who feed children according to nutritional guidelines. The program is an outgrowth of the National School Luneh Act whieh was extended to children receiving preschool child care in private homes. To date, MANA has already signed up 50 providers in Hawai'i to receive the federal food reimbursements, says director Cris Rossetti Cranmer. MANA is now working with a group in Waiamanalo to help them get licensed by the state. MANA, located in a new Aiea office near the Hawai'i Sugar Planters Association, aims to educate people that child care is an important pro-

fession, "It is not just babysitting with no skills," says Cranmer. "It is child development, and food is an important part. Food in Hawaiian culture is warm, nurturing, friendship, family. We need not feel this is an unskilled profession, but rather it is a viable means of support." Another goal of MANA is to educate parents about what to look for in a child care situation, what questions to ask to know their child will be well cared for. While the services of MANA are not just for Hawaiians, director Cranmer says it issomethingHawaiians should know about. She explains, "Sometimes homemakers may feel they have no marketable skills, but you ean have a business in your home, be paid by the parents and be reimbursed by MANA." Other states also participate in the USDA Child Food Care Program, and in Hawai'i there are two sponsors, MANA and PATCH (People Attentive To Children). MANA is trying to reach more native Hawaiians, especially women at home with their own young children, who might be interested in starting a child-care business at home. MANA gives money as a reimbursement to the care provider for eaeh meal served, per child. This keeps care costs down for both provider and parent. Providers may not charge parents for food provided.

Cranmer says nationwide statistics on children show an alarming early trend to higher rates of cancer, heart and other disease, reflecting the national trend to a fast food society. She cited Ralph Nader, who in a recent visit to Hawai'i, said the United States gears commercials to pit child against parent and to sell highly processed, nonnutritive junk food, such as breakfast cereals. One objective of the Hawai'i Child Care Food Program is to encourage home cooking, fresh foods, balanced diets and quality food preparation for children. MANA gives nutrition workshops, cooking classes and provides training in how to make recipe plans. Providers must follow USDA guidelines for balanced meals, and be registered by the state. MANA will instruct interested providers in steps they need to follow to qualify. She notes there are 700 licensed child care providers in Hawai'i, many of whom could possibly qualify for the child food care program. Cranmer is a 1968 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, and the daughter of Margaret Mahi and Carl Rossetti of Pearl City. She worked for other nonprofits doing similar food programs in San Francisco and Seattle (working with 1000 care providers), and worked for PATCH in Hawai'i for a while before starting MANA with five other women. She recalled, "I wanted to put something together for Hawai'i, and do something beneficial for the Hawaiian community." She said the MANA staff are dedicated women who believe in good healthy eating. One staff member is a nutritional education specialist, who teaches menu planning, organizing and preparing meals. The rest of the staff are outreach workers who visit provider homes every four months to look at their menu plan and attendance records. Twice a year they are required by law to observe a meal in the home. The rest of the year, she says, providers are on the honor system. "This respects the privacy of the home, something more attractive than previous food care programs in Hawai'i whieh were not well understood." MANA's $125,000 grant from USDA covers their administrative costs. Additional funds are provided for meals, but the amount depends on the number of meals served and number of providers signed up. For further information, eall MANA at 833-5230.