STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 6262

December 7, 1984

CHILDREN AND MINORS:

Food service aspects of Head Start program for preschool children

PUBLIC HEALTH CODE:

Licensure of aspects of Head Start nutrition programs as food service establishments

The food service aspects of a Head Start program, consisting of the preparation of food by Head Start personnel in a central culinary unit and delivery to a mobile unit for service therein by Head Start personnel to preschool children enrolled in the program, are required to be licensed by the Department of Public Health in accordance with 1978 PA 368, Sec. 12904.

No licensure is required for the food service aspect of a Head Start program consisting of the purchase by Head Start personnel of prepackaged food and other grocery items and delivery to the residences of preschool children enrolled in the program for preparation and service to such children in the residences by their parents, guardians, or persons standing in loco parentis, as the case may be.

Honorable James Mick Middaugh

State Representative

The Capitol

Lansing, Michigan

You have requested my opinion on the question whether a Head Start program which includes nutritious food experiences to preschool children, with respect to its food service aspects, is within the ambit of the Public Health Code, 1978 PA 368; MCLA 333.1101 et seq; MSA 14.15(1101) et seq, sometimes hereinafter referred to as the Act, which requires licensure and regulation thereunder.

Project Head Start is a federally funded program which provides a comprehensive preschool program to children of eligible families pursuant to the Head Start Act, 95 Stat 499 (1981), 42 USCA 9831 et seq. As part of this program, the nutritious food aspect of the program in question provided by the joint county Head Start program is of two types. The first takes place in the residence of the preschool child involving prepackaged food and groceries brought into the residence by Head Start personnel which are prepared and served to the child by the child's parent, guardian or person standing in loco parentis to the child, as the case may be. Head Start personnel do not prepare or serve any of the food for consumption by the child in the child's residence.

The second occurs in a mobile unit operated as part of the Head Start program in which preschool children are provided food, a part of which is invariably prepared in a central culinary unit of the program and placed within the mobile unit for service by Head Start personnel to such children. The children are usually served prepackaged foods as well on such occasions.

Section 12901(1)(a) of the Act, supra, as last amended by 1984 PA 199, effective July 3, 1984, defines a 'food service establishment,' as used in Part 129 of the Act, to mean:

The Legislature has expressly enumerated certain exceptions therefrom a subsections a(i)-(viii) of this section, none of which apply here. In subsection (b), the term 'person' is defined to include a governmental entity.

Section 12904(1) of the Act, supra, provides:

It is also noted that applications for licensure are to be submitted to the local health department for appropriate recommendation and submission to the state as provided in subsection (2) of section 12904 of the Act, supra.

Response to your question requires consideration of two issues: (1) whether food is being served or provided by Head Start personnel in the residence of the child or in the mobile unit within the meaning of section 12901(1) of the Act, supra; and (2) whether providing the food to preschool pupils in either the home or the mobile unit constitutes providing food 'for the public' within the meaning of section 12901(1) of the Act, supra.

Since the Act fails to define either the terms 'served or provided' or 'public,' their meaning must be ascertained from certain well-settled rules of statutory construction. Particular words and phrases must be read within the context of the statute. In re Atherton's Estate, 333 Mich 193, 195; 52 NW2d 660 (1952). Words must be read in keeping with the intent of the Legislature. O'Donnell v State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins Co, 404 Mich 524, 544; 273 NW2d 829 (1979). Where the meaning of terms of a statute is unclear, resort may be had to the title of the statute. Lakehead Pipe Line Co, Inc v Dehn, 340 Mich 25, 34; 64 NW2d 903 (1954). Specific words and phrases will be given their common and accepted meaning in the absence of a contrary legislative intent. RS 1846, c 1, Sec. 3a; MCLA 8.3a; MSA 2.212(1); Hammons v Franzblau, 331 Mich 572; 50 NW2d 161 (1951).

When the terms 'served or provided' and 'for the public' as used in section 12901a(1) of the Act, supra, are considered against this background, and in light of the title to the Act, supra, which states its purpose is 'to promote and protect the public health' of the people of this state, it is readily apparent that the Legislature intended to regulate and license all persons and entities engaged in food service provided to the public in order to 'promote and protect the public health,' except for those expressly exempted by section 12901(1)(a)(i)-(viii), of the Act, supra. OAG, 1981-1982, No 5873, p 108, 109 (April 15, 1981). Here, it does not appear that the Legislature intended to regulate and license those persons and entities which merely purchase and deliver packaged foods or groceries to the residences of Head Start pupils where the food is received and prepared for the child by his or her parent, guardian or person standing in loco parentis, as the case may be, inasmuch as such food is neither prepared nor served by Head Start personnel. On the other hand, the Head Start mobile unit program, above described, does involve the preparation of foods by Head Start personnel at the central culinary unit, delivery to the mobile unit, and service by Head Start personnel to preschool children enrolled in the program.

It is equally apparent that a federally-funded program available to a sizeable portion of the public, i.e., preschool children, is, perforce, a public program. The preschool children who are served food at a mobile unit are served as members of the public, for whose protection licensure is required in accordance with section 12904 of the Act, supra.

It is my opinion, therefore, that the food service aspects of a Head Start program which consist of service of foods to Head Start children and which has been prepared by Head Start personnel in a central culinary unit, then delivered to a mobile unit and served by Head Start personnel to children enrolled in the program, are required to be licensed by the Department of Public Health in accordance with 1978 PA 368, Sec. 12904, supra. It is my further opinion that no licensure is required in the event Head Start personnel purchase prepackaged food and other grocery items and deliver them to the residences of children enrolled in the preschool program for preparation and service to such children in the residences by their parents, guardians or persons standing in loco parentis, as the case may be.

Frank J. Kelley