34,706, 053

20, 860, 908

55, 566, 961

29, 515, 011

14, 153, 651

43,668,662

690, 373

52, 450, 561

Senator CRANSTON. I thank you very much for your appearance and your very constructive and interesting testimony. I understand you were a participant in the recent Conference of Mayors held here in Washington. What was the sentiment of those mayors regarding the Summer Lunch Program?

Mayor MAY. I do not think there is any question, Mr. Chairman, about their enthusiasm for the Summer Food Program as an integral part of the job and recreation programs, which we need so desperately in our cities. It was the subject of a meeting between administration officials and a special delegation from that conference at which summer food programs, jobs, and recreation opportunities were discussed. So it is high on our agenda and I think it is fair to say it has strong support from the mayors of all cities of any considerable size.

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE PROGRAMS?

Senator CRANSTON. Can you estimate the general sentiment of the cities participating in the Summer Lunch Program about the need for careful administration of the program? Also, how effectively the programs are being conducted?

Mayor MAY. Well, I believe you have to put that in the context of the difficulty of planning, and putting together an administrative staff, when you have this off-again-on-again funding situation.

For example, our program was launched on July 6, which was the very day we learned that rather than having $56,000, we were going to have considerably more available. To find staff and train them and to administer a program with precise efficiency at that late juncture is a well nigh impossible task. We are, of course, dealing in much of our staffing with indigenous people from the area who can best, it seems to us, work in distributing the food and so on.

At least from my experience and in the context of the built-in difficulties of the whole program-I believe it has been rather ably administered. If we know, well enough in advance, how much we are going to have, we can go upward from there in terms of the efficiency and the effectiveness of carrying out this program.

Senator CRANSTON. So that I will not miss that rollcall but that we can keep moving, Nancy Amidei, of the committee staff, will ask the questions that I wish to ask you. We will then continue with the next witnesses; and, when he returns from voting, Senator Bellmon will carry on.

Miss AMIDEI. Would you say something for a moment about the fact that the League of Cities might be able to play a role in monitoring and auditing programs this year, or do you feel there is any problem with the cities themselves being involved in monitoring or auditing the programs during the course of the summer?

Mayor MAY. I can only speak from experience in my own city. I am reasonably satisfied that within the context I have just outlined-of the difficulties of setting up the program and planning for it with the funding uncertainties-it was effectively carried out. The food got to the kids who were supposed to get it, there was a minimal waste of food, and the program was, therefore, on target.

I have no hesitancy about welcoming anybody who wants to come into my city to monitor it, or see how effectively it is being carried out.

I am not quite sure what the most effective mechanism for doing that would be.

Miss AMIDEI. There was a story in the Washington Post* you might have noticed this morning that made some comment about irregularities in the program in New York City. Would you be able to comment on that for us for the record?

Mayor MAY. I speak for John Lindsay on lots of items with our State legislature, but I really can't speak for New York City on this

program.

Might I suggest that if you can hold your record open, I would be glad to contact New York City officials to give them an opportunity to explain some of the very special problems they have in distributing food in that huge, highly congested city.

We all realize that New York City in many ways is a different world. Some of the problems which would differentiate the way we distributed food in Rochester and the way they did it in New York City would epitomize that. I would be glad to get materials from them which would respond to whatever concerns were expressed about the New York City program.

Miss AMIDEI. Thank you. We will be glad to hold the record open for materials on New York City's program. Just one last question from the Senator. Does the Conference of Mayors, U.S.-League of Cities have any suggestions it would like to make either directly at this moment or for the record about how the program might be improved from their point of view, suggestions about the apportionment formulas, or procedures about the program? We would like to have you comment on that.

Mayor MAY. In the material submitted to you, there are the results of our survey of the 50 States, not in terms of need, but rather in terms of the amounts which the communities felt they could effectively distribute. I think it is a fairly realistic figure based on past experience. But, it is conditioned on the fact that the amount of funding will not only be adequate, but that the dollar amounts will be known early in the ball game, so that effective planning can begin.

Mr. Davis might want to comment on the timing problems. I would assume that it is crucial that the cities know by early May if they are to gear up effectively to carry out a good program. Do you want to comment?

EARLY PLANNING NECESSARY

Mr. DAVIS. Yes. Basically the planning process is what really guarantees a good program, a very effective program within the city. Late funds create quite a difficult problem because of the fact that we have many, many sites to serve. We have to coordinate these sites, dropoff times, dropoff points, and training of the staff on each one of the sites so they can deal with the problems that you run up against with children whom in the past, have not received balanced lunches.

There is a process you must go through in order to teach children, the importance of a balanced meal. If a child has never had milk, and if you don't work with that child, you can produce and provide the milk but the child could throw it away. Early planning would help

See Appendix 1, p. 589.