Good morning, everyone. Good morning. And i think we should get started. It is another important, big day nga and we have important work to do. Im door to mcauliffe, first lady of virginia, and chair of the spouses leadership committee, and it is my honor to welcome you all to this very special winter meeting, joint session for governors and thousand. Today, we are talking about ending child hunger, improving lives, and investing in americas future. I want to thank on the governors here this morning and espouses and the many Partner Organizations in attendance this morning. I will say it is my understanding that it has been several years since there has been a joint session of this nature at the nda, so nga, so im excited for the unique opportunity to have the spouses at the table. I want to give my acknowledgment. Excusednd does have an absence this morning. Hes currently at fox news extolling the good work being done here this weekend for the nga. He will be joining us later in the session. Say a big thank you to the nga team and to share our strength for helping pull together this presentation this morning. And i want to thank you, governor sandoval, for comoderating today. You have been remarkable advocates and i appreciate that you are willing to share your Success Stories and inspire other governors to take action on this issue. I am really grateful for the opportunity to speak with you all today about an issue that is vitally important to all of us, and that his childhood hunger. Much like the discussions governors had yesterday morning about Early Childhood education, investing in quality Nutrition Programs for children pays off down the line many times over in improved health and education outcomes. My husbands top priority, as it is for all of you, is expanding, growing, and diversifying, our states economy so our families can put food on the table, have a high quality of life, even as expenses continue to rise. Our National Economy continues to improve and wages are trending in the right direction, yet many working families are still struggling. Too Many Americans are underemployed while many more are working multiple jobs and still unable to make ends meet. Ofult is that far too many our communities suffer from high rates of Child Poverty and far too many children are coming home to empty cupboards at the end of the school day, over the weekend, and throughout the summer. Startling newt a milestone. For the first time, a majority of all public full children qualified for free or reduced price meals. Ins means that will meals federal child Nutrition Programs are more important than ever to the health and wellbeing and education of our next generation. We know that education is the ultimate bridge out of poverty, but the fact remains that cannot expect our children to be hungry for knowledge if they are just plain hungry. When we provide students with access to nutritious meals, we are not just nursing their bodies, we are feeding their minds. In his first proposed budget, my half 1included over million to help improvements to alternative service models, like breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast and Second Chance breakfast, which is proven to increase the increase participation and very importantly, to reduce stigma. 54 First Release found that of all schools that participated in the state breakfast incentive funding increased the number of meals served and showed improvement in one or more standardized test subjects. And this comes on the heels of a study by deloitte in 2014, which found that students who their schoolin Breakfast Programs showed improvement of 17. 5 ross stores. We know there are many factors and success, but research is clear that nutrition is a critical part of the equation. Those of you who are educators in the room, you will understand what we say. If it is important for every child to have breakfast on test days it is important every , school day of the year. Additionally, Research Shows there is linkage between childhood insecurity and the risk for childhood maltreatment. We will expand upon that shortly. This is why we have made it our mission in virginia to expand access to healthy meals by taking full advantage of every federal child nutrition dollar. Since the very beginning of our Public Education system educators and Public Officials , have recognized that nutrition is an essential tool in making sure students are able to focus and to learn. Following world war ii, our military leadership approached congress with deep concern about mission readiness. Based on the scores of soldiers and sailors that were unable to serve due to issues of malnutrition. Their advocacy led to a significant expansion of the program at the time and we have continued to affirm the critical importance of the nutritional safety net for our children to ensure our future workforce can future workforce and to protect our economic and National Security interests. Yet, major gaps in our safety net still plague us. The federal fund exists to feed hungry children in the morning, after school, and during summer. Sadly, these are largely underutilized because of various barriers related to access and awareness. So, it is not a lack of resources, but a lack of focus and prioritization that prevents our students from having enough to eat. In virginia, we are making progress because we have made it a priority. The results we achieved our in a short amount of time are a testament to what they can accomplish when we work together. We share our strength and we are making strides by offering outward support and targeting assistant to grow Nutrition Programs in schools, nonprofits and local Government Agencies that are providing summer and afterSchool Programs to our students. We believe that schools are the most practical, scalable, and Sustainable Way to reach children each and every day with the nutrition they need to thrive. Expanding these programs is not only helping us to grow at the virginia economy by investing in the health and education of our children but it brings in new , investment to the state and making an impact on the local economy. For example in virginia, 5 , million more breakfasts were served last school year than the year before, which brought in an additional 10. 4 million for School Nutrition programs allowing them to hire staff, spend morebor hours, on locally grown foods, and purchase new equipment. Again, that is an investment of . 5 million that brought an additional 10. 5 million in federal reimbursement to our nearly 2000 roi because of returning investment. The governor expanded to more than 2 million over two years, which is supporting alternative or chris grahams at 463 schools across the commonwealth. Alternative Breakfast Programs at 463 schools across the commonwealth. No child in the nation is as rich in resources as ours should suffer the shame, i ndignity, and visible symptoms of hunger. It is also come i think we have shown in virginia, an economic imperative. We cannot build the work force needed to lead United States into competitiveness and protect our National Security in this increasingly complex world. If 13 million American Children are hungry. Lackng as our children yearround access to the nutrition they need, our Economic Future is at risk. This morning, you will hear from several governors who have used their platforms to raise awareness. And elevate it as a priority in their states. Some have taken direct legislative action to move the needle and leverage the federal Nutrition Program to benefit their communities, as we have in virginia. As my friend billy shore recognized in launching the hunger campaign, childhood hunger in america is the problem big enough to matter but small enough to solve. We have the ability in the country to end childhood hunger by the power of public and private partnerships, and by combining the leaderships of our governors with the dedication and private resources of Community Organizations and businesses. And now, i would like to recognize nevada governor brian sandoval, ngas vice chair, and Kathleen Sandoval, our spouses Committee Vice chair, both of whom are great champions of hunger prevention initiatives and supporting environments for students, their learning and wellbeing. It has been my pleasure to work with kathleen in partnership on the leadership committee, and we will hear from her later this morning during the roundtable portion of todays session. Thank you, governor sandoval and sothank you, governor sandoval and kathleen, and you can offer , your remarks at this time. Governor sandoval good morning. What a privilege and pleasure to be with you all. Before i get into my formal remarks, i wanted to give my sincere appreciation to all of the first spouses for your sacrifices and commitments to your respective states. It is truly remarkable, and thank you mcauliffe. I have Great Respect for you and your husband. Hes doing a remarkable job as chairman of the governors association. Im so appreciated you brought this issue to the forefront of ngas policy agenda and part of your spouses initiative. Your work will have been Lasting Impact on states and will help , our advocacy at the federal level to ensure a strong and continued commitment to feeding hungry children. As you said i dont know there , could be a more noble cause than feeding hungry children. To the National School breakfast, lunch, and summer feeding programs. Later this afternoon, as many of you may or may not know the , governors will reaffirm our child nutrition policy to make sure it remains the focus of ngas work. Like you and governor mcauliffe, i am proud to be here with my wonderful wife kathleen. Greatest first lady in the history of nevada, but really proud of her. And she and i have seen the effects of child hunger on childrens health, learning, and wellbeing. You know, we all talk about our education Reform Efforts in our respective states, but those efforts alone cannot address the underlying issues that prevent many students from learning. Hunger is a roadblock to learning and nevada is fortunate to have kathleen and her focus on removing this roadblock from our schools. Her work contributed to a new law in the state of nevada requiring breakfast after the bell in high need schools. I like to refer to kathleen is as not only the first lady but , the first mom. She cares so deeply about the children in our state. I am really excited and delighted to hear from her and she will share specifics going on in the great state of nevada about our initiatives and efforts to ensure we are better leveraging federal programs to fight childhood hunger. And i would be remiss if i did not introduce the first daughter of the great state of nevada, marissa sandoval. [laughter] [applause] again, imndoval honored to join all of you and i know all of you have had your experiences. As governors and first spouses, we all visit the schools. You see those little guys. It is not their fault. They come to school, and they are hungry. Like i said, i think it is so important to do whatever we can for them. You know, i recall talking to a , ander and a principal they talk about the kids that are hungry, and they are putting food in their pocket so they can have it when they go home so they can have something to eat. We are about to see a video from jeff bridges with regard to save our strengths. I had the opportunity to meet with mr. Bridges along with the first lady in las vegas and we , visited a boys and girls club. We all know he is up for nomination and hopefully he will win that best supporting actor award. He has been an Academy Award winner. Really, what struck me, is a gentleman of his fame, and being so well known, but seeing how deeply he cared for those kids and how he sat down with them, and governor beloved can appreciate governor bullock can appreciate that well. He looks them in the eye, and cares so deeply. I hope you have the opportunity to meet him as well. I appreciate the attendance today because it really does show how much you want deeply care about the children of your respective state. Thank you for the opportunity. Greetings. [laughter] we are facing a lot of problems as a nation, but one of those problems is solvable now, and that is the problem of kids who do not have enough to eat. One in five kids in the United States faces hunger. It affects every kid in every community in your state, every single one. Those kids will not grow up to be healthy, not going to graduate from school, not going to grow up to live the lives that they deserve or be the citizens we need them to be. There are solutions out there, making breakfast as part of the regular school day, providing free meals. We know these solutions work. We have seen that they have bipartisan support and we need them to expand right now. Luckily, you are exactly the people who can get it done. All right, i have said my piece. Thank you for listening and thank you for everything that you do. Thank you, jeff bridges. [applause] we certainly wish him well tonight for sure. He has been a great champion and a great place for childhood hunger. I know i personally will be rooting for him tonight. We are very fortunate to have a panel with us today. Three distinguished presenters who are experts in their area of Child Welfare and food policy and child nutrition. I am pleased to introduce each of them. First we have david sanders, executive Vice President with more than 20 years of experience in the delivery of social services to families and improving Child Welfare. Including Child Maltreatment and child fatalities. We also have hugh acheson, a renowned chef and nationally resound restauranteur, and he will discuss the importance of raising awareness about Healthy Eating and childhood hunger. Last but not least, rodney taylor. One of the largest and highest performance called districts in the country. He will share creed of strategies he has employed to improve the quality of school meals and increase participation in assistance programs in california. He will also happen to be a personal hero of mine. Thanks to all of you for joining us again this morning. I look forward to your remarks and informative discussion on the thoughtprovoking topic. Thank you first Lady Mcauliffe, and governor sandoval for the invitation. David i am david sanders, vice family programs. For those of you unfamiliar with casey family programs, kc family programs, we are the largest foundation in the country focused exclusively on foster care and Child Welfare. Andmission is to provide openly prevent the need for foster care. All 50 states and have agreements and staff assigned to all of your states and if you would like to identify or meet the person you have assigned to your state, let me know. Ember junior, we have joan. She has worked with first lady mccullough on the desperately to mccullough on the no caps on the initiative. With first lady hungryfe on the initiative. We work on multiple levels and with multiple systems. The Public Health approach includes providing support and services to atrisk children. As you have already heard very briefly, Food Insecurity is linked with a number of adverse outcomes over a persons lifetime. Through some of the work casey has done with first lady mccullough, there is a significant relationship between Food Insecurity and Child Maltreatment, including child abuse and fatality. As you can see from this slide, states with high levels of Food Insecurity, child Food Insecurity, tend to have higher rates of Child Maltreatment states below the national median, as shown by the cluster on the top right hand side. States in the bottom left have both lower rates of Food Insecurity and Child Maltreatment fatality. Next slide, please. In addition, states with high for the insecurity generally have higher rates of reports of maltreatment and substantiated reports of maltreatment. Next slide. The reason this is important is because of some of the things that first Lady Mcauliffe already mentioned. Experience is a poverty and experiences of poverty and achievement and have been shown to affect the architecture of childrens brains. Early experience matters. Brains develop differently if they are under prolonged toxic stress. That affect is just emotional or social. Prolonged stress can cause structural change, impacting brain function and damaging physical health later in life. Many of you are familiar with adverse childhood experiences, which was conducted by the cdc and Kaiser Permanente in the 1990s. Individuals who had more of these adverse experiences when they were young physical, sexual or emotional , abuse, parental divorce or neglect, including not having enough to eat, were at increased risk for heart and lung disease, depression, alcoholism, and other health issues. Next slide, please. This morning,