“To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section expands direct certification eligibility for free lunches under the National School Lunch Program by (1) authorizing schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education to directly certify students and (2) adding to the list of eligible children those (iii) placed with caregivers by state child welfare agencies (under parts B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act) or tribal child welfare agencies, regardless of the agency's responsibility for care and placement; (iv) receiving adoption assistance payments under section 473(a) of the Social Security Act or similar state programs; (v) receiving kinship guardianship assistance payments under section 473(d) of the Social Security Act or similar state programs, regardless of prior foster care status; or (vi) in families living in low-income dedicated housing with a full-time grandparent or older caregiver or receiving housing assistance under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996. (Direct certification automatically enrolls students for free meals via data matches with other assistance programs, reducing administrative burdens on families and schools.)
This section revises eligibility transfer provisions under the National School Lunch Program by (1) requiring a new local educational agency (LEA) to honor a free or reduced-price meal eligibility determination made by an original LEA for a child who transfers schools, for the original authorized period plus a one-year extension if the child began living with a qualifying caregiver (i.e., grandparent or other relative with legal authority via affidavit/power of attorney, legal custody, or custody proceedings) in the 12 months preceding enrollment; and (2) requiring a school food authority to extend such an eligibility determination by one year for a child enrolling in a new school under similar caregiver circumstances. (Thus, the changes promote meal program continuity for students in kinship care arrangements who change schools or LEAs.)
This section expands direct certification for free school lunches under the National School Lunch Program by adding to the list of automatically eligible children in subclauses (III) through (VI) of Section 9(b)(12)(A)(vii): (1) children placed with caregivers through involvement of a child welfare agency administering a state plan under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a tribal child welfare agency, regardless of the agency's responsibility for care and placement; (2) children receiving adoption assistance payments under section 473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) or similar state programs; (3) children receiving kinship guardianship assistance payments under section 473(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) or similar state programs, regardless of prior foster care status; and (4) children in families (aa) living in low-income dedicated housing with a full-time grandparent or older caregiver or (bb) receiving housing or assistance under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.). (As background, direct certification automatically enrolls eligible children for free meals without household applications, reducing administrative burdens on schools and families.) It also makes conforming amendments to Section 9(d)(2), including updating cross-references and striking an obsolete subparagraph.
This section expands the definition of eligible child for direct certification of free school meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act by adding children receiving medical assistance under the Medicaid program (1) under subclause (I) of 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i) based on foster care aid under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act or adoption assistance under section 473(b) of that Act or (2) under subclause (II) of 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i) based on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. (Thus, states and local educational agencies may automatically certify such children for free meals under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program without a separate application.)