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Chapter 8: Support Services <br />• Improve the quality of food and service delivered at current sites. Improve the <br />nutritional and sanitary quality of food and service delivered at free dining rooms, <br />shelters, and housing sites. <br />Action Stens <br />Establish recommended food and sanitation guidelines for all providers, <br />reflecting U.S. dietary guidelines, the Food Pyramid, and established sanitary <br />standards. Vegetarian and culturally-appropriate options should be provided. <br />Provide training and technical assistance materials on implementing the <br />guidelines. <br />Topic 4 Child and Dependent Care <br />Many types of people have dependent care needs, but those of homeless people are particularly <br />acute. For example, lack of affordable child care financially burdens a middle class family, <br />but it may force a homeless parent to choose between leaving their children unattended in ___ <br />public and accepting a job or training that could lead out of homelessness. We are all <br />concerned about the education of our children, but the problem is worse for homeless <br />children, who often have no place to do homework and arrive at school {if at all) tired and _~_. <br />hungry after a night in a shelter. <br />The issues covered by this topic--child care, parent assistance, education, and foster care and ---~ <br />youth--are not unique to homeless people, but are the concerns of broader constituencies and <br />mainstream systems of care. An example is the county-wide Child Care Coordinating <br />Council, now working to expand low income child care assistance in light of welfare reform. ---- <br />The goal of this plan section is not to recreate those systems, but to make sure they effectively <br />serve homeless people and address homeless people's needs. <br />• Expand availability of subsidized child care. Provide more free or low cost quality <br />child care in coordination with meeting the housing, vocational, and service objectives <br />of homeless families. The goal is to provide all homeless families who need it with ~~ <br />child care, especially those enrolled in case management. <br />Action Steos <br />Negotiate homeless child "set asides" with major child care providers, Head <br />Start, and government-funded preschools. Link these slots to vocational and <br />other case management programs. <br />Alameda County-Wide Homeless Continuum of Care Plan: April 1997 ._ <br />108 <br />