(305 ILCS 42/5)

Sec. 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly finds a definite correlation between proper health and adequate diet and nutrition and hereby recognizes the importance of federal food and nutrition assistance programs in minimizing the incidence of hunger and nutrition related health problems for those who participate in such programs.

The General Assembly also finds that a significant portion of otherwise eligible residents of Illinois do not participate in existing federal food assistance programs such as the food stamp program, school lunch and breakfast programs, child care food programs, summer food programs, the special supplemental program for women, infants and children, congregate meal programs, and home-delivered meal programs. That lack of participation is, in the General Assembly's view, due predominantly to a lack of adequate program information as to eligibility and application procedures, a lack of access to and in many instances availability of benefits under those federal food assistance programs, and the unavailability of federal funding specifically for outreach efforts to expand program coverage and participation among eligible persons.

The General Assembly believes that it is in the interest of the public health of the economically vulnerable residents of Illinois to establish a program of community-based nutrition outreach to enroll eligible targeted populations in federal food and nutrition assistance programs designed for them and to promote the fuller implementation and utilization of federal food assistance programs in unserved or underserved areas.

(Source: P.A. 93-555, eff. 1-1-04.)