CARE for Kids Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6536 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 17, 2020 Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself, Mr. BACON, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 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 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘CARE for Kids Act of 2020’’. 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 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6536 IH (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 care- 14 giver was carried out with the involvement of 15 an agency that administers a State plan under 16 part B or E of title IV of the Social Security 17 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a tribal child 18 welfare agency, without regard to whether the 19 agency is responsible for the care and place- 20 ment of the child; 21 ‘‘(iv) a child for whom an adoption assist- 22 ance payment is made under section 473(a) of 23 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6536 IH under a similar State-funded or State-operated 1 program, as determined by the Secretary; 2 ‘‘(v) a child for whom a kinship guardian- 3 ship assistance payment is made under section 4 473(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 5 673(d)) or under a similar State-funded or 6 State-operated program, as determined by the 7 Secretary, without regard to whether the child 8 was previously in foster care; or 9 ‘‘(vi) a child of a family that— 10 ‘‘(I) lives in housing dedicated to low- 11 income families with a caregiver who is a 12 grandparent or another older person that 13 cares for the child full-time; or 14 ‘‘(II) receives housing or housing as- 15 sistance under the Native American Hous- 16 ing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 17 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.).’’. 18 SEC. 3. EXTENDED ELIGIBILITY. 19 Section 9(b)(9) of the Richard B. Russell National 20 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)) is amended— 21 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 22 paragraph (D); 23 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6536 IH ‘‘(C) ELIGIBILITY OF TRANSFERRED CHIL- 1 DREN.— 2 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF COVERED 3 CHILD.—In this subparagraph, the term 4 ‘covered child’ means a child that— 5 ‘‘(I) has been determined eligible 6 for free or reduced price meals under 7 this Act by a local educational agency 8 (referred to in this subparagraph as 9 the ‘original local educational agen- 10 cy’); and 11 ‘‘(II) transfers to another school 12 that is under the jurisdiction of a dif- 13 ferent local educational agency (re- 14 ferred to in this subparagraph as the 15 ‘new local educational agency’). 16 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY.—An eligibility de- 17 termination made by an original local edu- 18 cational agency with respect to a covered 19 child shall be transferred to, and honored 20 by, the new local educational agency, in- 21 cluding the period for which that deter- 22 mination was authorized, subject to an ex- 23 tension under clause (iii). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6536 IH ‘‘(iii) EXTENSION OF DURATION.—A 1 new local educational agency shall honor 2 the eligibility determination for a covered 3 child under clause (ii) for a period that is 4 1 year longer than the period for which 5 that determination was authorized by the 6 original local educational agency if the cov- 7 ered child began living with a caregiver— 8 ‘‘(I) in the 12-month period pre- 9 ceding the date on which the covered 10 child is enrolled in a school under the 11 jurisdiction of a new local educational 12 agency; and 13 ‘‘(II) who is— 14 ‘‘(aa) a grandparent or 15 other relative and has legal au- 16 thority to secure services for the 17 child through an educational or 18 healthcare consent affidavit, 19 power of attorney, or other legal 20 documentation; or 21 ‘‘(bb) a grandparent or 22 other relative and has legal cus- 23 tody of the child or has com- 24 menced the process of seeking 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6536 IH legal custody of the child in a 1 court of law.’’; and 2 (3) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated)— 3 (A) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 4 subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and in- 5 denting appropriately; 6 (B) in the matter preceding subclause (I) 7 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘Except as’’ 8 and all that follows through ‘‘(3)(H)(ii)’’ and 9 inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as other- 11 wise specified in clause (ii), subparagraph 12 (C), subparagraphs (E) and (H)(ii) of 13 paragraph (3)’’; and 14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION FOR CERTAIN CHIL- 16 DREN.—A school food authority shall ex- 17 tend the eligibility determination made by 18 a local educational agency with respect to 19 a child for a period that is 1 year longer 20 than the period for which that determina- 21 tion was authorized by the local edu- 22 cational agency, if the child began living 23 with a caregiver— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6536 IH ‘‘(I) in the 12-month period pre- 1 ceding the date on which the covered 2 child is enrolled in the new school; 3 and 4 ‘‘(II) who is— 5 ‘‘(aa) a grandparent or 6 other relative and has legal au- 7 thority to secure services for the 8 child through an educational or 9 healthcare consent affidavit, 10 power of attorney, or other legal 11 documentation; or 12 ‘‘(bb) a grandparent or 13 other relative and has legal cus- 14 tody of the child or has com- 15 menced the process of seeking 16 legal custody of the child in a 17 court of law.’’. 18 SEC. 4. EXPANDING AUTOMATIC ELIGIBILITY. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b)(12)(A) of the Rich- 20 ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 21 1758(b)(12)(A)) is amended— 22 (1) by conforming the margins of clauses (iv) 23 through (vii) to the margin of clause (iii); and 24 (2) in clause (vii)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6536 IH (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 1 the end; 2 (B) in subclause (II)— 3 (i) by striking ‘‘who’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘whom’’; and 5 (ii) by striking the period at the end 6 and inserting a semicolon; and 7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(III) a child whose placement with a 9 caregiver was carried out with the involve- 10 ment of an agency that administers a 11 State plan under part B or E of title IV 12 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 13 et seq.) or a tribal child welfare agency, 14 without regard to whether the agency is re- 15 sponsible for the care and placement of the 16 child; 17 ‘‘(IV) a child for whom an adoption 18 assistance payment is made under section 19 473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 20 U.S.C. 673(a)) or under a similar State- 21 funded or State-operated program, as de- 22 termined by the Secretary; 23 ‘‘(V) a child for whom a kinship 24 guardianship assistance payment is made 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6536 IH under section 473(d) of the Social Security 1 Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a similar 2 State-funded or State-operated program, 3 as determined by the Secretary, without 4 regard to whether the child was previously 5 in foster care; or 6 ‘‘(VI) a child of a family that— 7 ‘‘(aa) lives in housing dedicated 8 to low-income families with a care- 9 giver who is a grandparent or another 10 older person that cares for the child 11 full-time; or 12 ‘‘(bb) receives housing or housing 13 assistance under the Native American 14 Housing Assistance and Self-Deter- 15 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 16 4101 et seq.).’’. 17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 9(d)(2) of 18 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 19 U.S.C. 1758(d)(2)) is amended— 20 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘(iv) or 21 (v)’’ and inserting ‘‘(ii), (iii), (iv), (v), or (vii)’’; 22 (2) in subparagraph (E), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 23 end after the semicolon; 24 (3) by striking subparagraph (F); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6536 IH (4) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as sub- 1 paragraph (F) and conforming the margin of sub- 2 paragraph (F) (as so redesignated) appropriately. 3 SEC. 5. MEDICAID DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 4 Section 9(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Richard B. Russell Na- 5 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(15)(A)(i)) is 6 amended— 7 (1) in subclause (I)— 8 (A) in item (bb), by striking ‘‘(bb) who’’ 9 and inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(BB) who’’; and 11 (B) by striking ‘‘(I)(aa) who’’ and insert- 12 ing the following: 13 ‘‘(aa)(AA) who’’; 14 (2) in subclause (II)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘regulations) with a child 16 described in subclause (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘regu- 17 lations)) with a child described in item (aa)’’; 18 and 19 (B) by striking ‘‘(II) who’’ and inserting 20 the following: 21 ‘‘(bb) who’’; 22 (3) in the matter preceding item (aa)(AA) (as 23 so redesignated), by striking ‘‘The term’’ and insert- 24 ing the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6536 IH ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; 1 and 2 (4) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(II) OTHER CHILDREN.—The term 4 ‘eligible child’ includes a child that receives 5 medical assistance under the Medicaid pro- 6 gram— 7 ‘‘(aa) under subclause (I) of sec- 8 tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of the Social 9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 10 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) on the basis of 11 receiving aid or assistance under the 12 State plan approved under part E of 13 title IV of that Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et 14 seq.) or by reason of section 473(b) of 15 that Act (42 U.S.C. 673(b)); or 16 ‘‘(bb) under subclause (II) of sec- 17 tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of that Act (42 18 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) on the 19 basis of receiving supplemental secu- 20 rity income benefits.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:39 Apr 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6536.IH H6536 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS