CARE for Kids Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1590 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 12, 2021 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. LUJA´N) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- trition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Caregivers, Access, and 4 Responsible Expansion for Kids Act of 2021’’ or the 5 ‘‘CARE for Kids Act of 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. ENHANCING DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 7 Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 8 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1590 IS (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 1 by inserting ‘‘(including any school operated by the 2 Bureau of Indian Education)’’ before ‘‘may certify’’; 3 and 4 (2) in subparagraph (E)— 5 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 6 end; 7 (B) in clause (ii)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘who’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘whom’’; and 10 (ii) by striking the period at the end 11 and inserting a semicolon; and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(iii) a child whose placement with a 14 caregiver was carried out with the involve- 15 ment of an agency that administers a 16 State plan under part B or E of title IV 17 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 18 et seq.) or a tribal child welfare agency, 19 without regard to whether the agency is re- 20 sponsible for the care and placement of the 21 child; 22 ‘‘(iv) a child for whom an adoption as- 23 sistance payment is made under section 24 473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1590 IS U.S.C. 673(a)) or under a similar State- 1 funded or State-operated program, as de- 2 termined by the Secretary; 3 ‘‘(v) a child for whom a kinship 4 guardianship assistance payment is made 5 under section 473(d) of the Social Security 6 Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a similar 7 State-funded or State-operated program, 8 as determined by the Secretary, without 9 regard to whether the child was previously 10 in foster care; or 11 ‘‘(vi) a child of a family that— 12 ‘‘(I) lives in housing dedicated to 13 low-income families with a caregiver 14 who is a grandparent or another older 15 person that cares for the child full- 16 time; or 17 ‘‘(II) receives housing or housing 18 assistance under the Native American 19 Housing Assistance and Self-Deter- 20 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 21 4101 et seq.).’’. 22 SEC. 3. EXTENDED ELIGIBILITY. 23 Section 9(b)(9) of the Richard B. Russell National 24 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1590 IS (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 1 paragraph (D); 2 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBILITY OF TRANSFERRED CHIL- 5 DREN.— 6 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF COVERED 7 CHILD.—In this subparagraph, the term 8 ‘covered child’ means a child that— 9 ‘‘(I) has been determined eligible 10 for free or reduced price meals under 11 this Act by a local educational agency 12 (referred to in this subparagraph as 13 the ‘original local educational agen- 14 cy’); and 15 ‘‘(II) transfers to another school 16 that is under the jurisdiction of a dif- 17 ferent local educational agency (re- 18 ferred to in this subparagraph as the 19 ‘new local educational agency’). 20 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY.—An eligibility de- 21 termination made by an original local edu- 22 cational agency with respect to a covered 23 child shall be transferred to, and honored 24 by, the new local educational agency, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1590 IS cluding the period for which that deter- 1 mination was authorized, subject to an ex- 2 tension under clause (iii). 3 ‘‘(iii) EXTENSION OF DURATION.—A 4 new local educational agency shall honor 5 the eligibility determination for a covered 6 child under clause (ii) for a period that is 7 1 year longer than the period for which 8 that determination was authorized by the 9 original local educational agency if the cov- 10 ered child began living with a caregiver— 11 ‘‘(I) in the 12-month period pre- 12 ceding the date on which the covered 13 child is enrolled in a school under the 14 jurisdiction of a new local educational 15 agency; and 16 ‘‘(II) who is— 17 ‘‘(aa) a grandparent or 18 other relative and has legal au- 19 thority to secure services for the 20 child through an educational or 21 healthcare consent affidavit, 22 power of attorney, or other legal 23 documentation; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1590 IS ‘‘(bb) a grandparent or 1 other relative and has legal cus- 2 tody of the child or has com- 3 menced the process of seeking 4 legal custody of the child in a 5 court of law.’’; and 6 (3) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated)— 7 (A) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 8 subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and in- 9 denting appropriately; 10 (B) in the matter preceding subclause (I) 11 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘Except as’’ 12 and all that follows through ‘‘(3)(H)(ii)’’ and 13 inserting the following: 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as other- 15 wise specified in clause (ii), subparagraph 16 (C), subparagraphs (E) and (H)(ii) of 17 paragraph (3)’’; and 18 (C) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION FOR CERTAIN CHIL- 20 DREN.—A school food authority shall ex- 21 tend the eligibility determination made by 22 a local educational agency with respect to 23 a child for a period that is 1 year longer 24 than the period for which that determina- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1590 IS tion was authorized by the local edu- 1 cational agency, if the child began living 2 with a caregiver— 3 ‘‘(I) in the 12-month period pre- 4 ceding the date on which the covered 5 child is enrolled in the new school; 6 and 7 ‘‘(II) who is— 8 ‘‘(aa) a grandparent or 9 other relative and has legal au- 10 thority to secure services for the 11 child through an educational or 12 healthcare consent affidavit, 13 power of attorney, or other legal 14 documentation; or 15 ‘‘(bb) a grandparent or 16 other relative and has legal cus- 17 tody of the child or has com- 18 menced the process of seeking 19 legal custody of the child in a 20 court of law.’’. 21 SEC. 4. EXPANDING AUTOMATIC ELIGIBILITY. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b)(12)(A) of the Rich- 23 ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 24 1758(b)(12)(A)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1590 IS (1) by conforming the margins of clauses (iv) 1 through (vii) to the margin of clause (iii); and 2 (2) in clause (vii)— 3 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 4 the end; 5 (B) in subclause (II)— 6 (i) by striking ‘‘who’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘whom’’; and 8 (ii) by striking the period at the end 9 and inserting a semicolon; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(III) a child whose placement 12 with a caregiver was carried out with 13 the involvement of an agency that ad- 14 ministers a State plan under part B 15 or E of title IV of the Social Security 16 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a tribal 17 child welfare agency, without regard 18 to whether the agency is responsible 19 for the care and placement of the 20 child; 21 ‘‘(IV) a child for whom an adop- 22 tion assistance payment is made 23 under section 473(a) of the Social Se- 24 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1590 IS under a similar State-funded or State- 1 operated program, as determined by 2 the Secretary; 3 ‘‘(V) a child for whom a kinship 4 guardianship assistance payment is 5 made under section 473(d) of the So- 6 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) 7 or under a similar State-funded or 8 State-operated program, as deter- 9 mined by the Secretary, without re- 10 gard to whether the child was pre- 11 viously in foster care; or 12 ‘‘(VI) a child of a family that— 13 ‘‘(aa) lives in housing dedi- 14 cated to low-income families with 15 a caregiver who is a grandparent 16 or another older person that 17 cares for the child full-time; or 18 ‘‘(bb) receives housing or 19 housing assistance under the Na- 20 tive American Housing Assist- 21 ance and Self-Determination Act 22 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et 23 seq.).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1590 IS (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 9(d)(2) of 1 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 2 U.S.C. 1758(d)(2)) is amended— 3 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘(iv) or 4 (v)’’ and inserting ‘‘(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), or (vii)’’; 5 (2) in subparagraph (E), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 6 end after the semicolon; 7 (3) by striking subparagraph (F); and 8 (4) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as sub- 9 paragraph (F) and conforming the margin of sub- 10 paragraph (F) (as so redesignated) appropriately. 11 SEC. 5. MEDICAID DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 12 Section 9(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Richard B. Russell Na- 13 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(15)(A)(i)) is 14 amended— 15 (1) in subclause (I)— 16 (A) in item (bb), by striking ‘‘(bb) who’’ 17 and inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(BB) who’’; and 19 (B) by striking ‘‘(I)(aa) who’’ and insert- 20 ing the following: 21 ‘‘(aa)(AA) who’’; 22 (2) in subclause (II)— 23 (A) by striking ‘‘regulations) with a child 24 described in subclause (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘regu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1590 IS lations)) with a child described in item (aa)’’; 1 and 2 (B) by striking ‘‘(II) who’’ and inserting 3 the following: 4 ‘‘(bb) who’’; 5 (3) in the matter preceding item (aa)(AA) (as 6 so redesignated), by striking ‘‘The term’’ and insert- 7 ing the following: 8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; 9 and 10 (4) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(II) OTHER CHILDREN.—The term 12 ‘eligible child’ includes a child that receives 13 medical assistance under the Medicaid pro- 14 gram— 15 ‘‘(aa) under subclause (I) of sec- 16 tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of the Social 17 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) on the basis of 19 receiving aid or assistance under the 20 State plan approved under part E of 21 title IV of that Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et 22 seq.) or by reason of section 473(b) of 23 that Act (42 U.S.C. 673(b)); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1590 IS ‘‘(bb) under subclause (II) of sec- 1 tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of that Act (42 2 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) on the 3 basis of receiving supplemental secu- 4 rity income benefits.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1590.IS S1590 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS