[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5167 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5167
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to reduce
stigma associated with unpaid meal fees, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 28, 2010
Mr. Ellison 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 reduce
stigma associated with unpaid meal fees, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``School Meals Stigma Reduction Act''.
SEC. 2. RETROACTIVE REIMBURSEMENT.
(a) Retroactive Reimbursements.--Section 9(b)(9)(C) of the Richard
B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)(C)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(C) Duration.--
``(i) In general.--Except as otherwise
specified in paragraph (3)(E), (3)(H)(ii), and
section 11(a), eligibility for free or reduced
price meals for any school year shall remain in
effect--
``(I) beginning on the date of
eligibility approval for the current
school year; and
``(II) ending on a date during the
subsequent school year determined by
the Secretary.
``(ii) Retroactivity.--A local educational
agency may revise a previously submitted meal
claim to reflect the eligibility approval of a
child for free or reduced price meals for a
period not to exceed a total of 90 days,
beginning not earlier than the first operating
day of the current school year and ending on
the date of eligibility approval for the child
for such school year.''
(b) Reducing Stigma Associated With Unpaid Meal Fees.--Section
9(b)(10) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1758 (b)(10)) is amended to read as follows:
``(10) Prohibition on discrimination and prevention of
stigma.--
``(A) Overt identification prohibited.--No physical
segregation of or other discrimination against any
child eligible for a free meal or a reduced price meal
under the school lunch program under this Act or the
school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) shall be made by
the school nor shall there be any overt identification
of any child by special tokens or tickets, announced or
published list of names, or by other means.
``(B) Reimbursable meals for eligible children.--
``(i) Children eligible for free meals.--
Each child eligible for a free meal shall be
provided the meal that is being provided under
the school lunch program under this Act or the
school breakfast program under section 4 of the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773) on
any given day, regardless of any unpaid fees.
``(ii) Children eligible for reduced price
meals.--Each child eligible for a reduced-price
meal shall be provided the meal that is being
provided under the school lunch program under
this Act or the school breakfast program under
section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966
(42 U.S.C. 1773) on any given day, as long as
the child pays the reduced-price meal fee that
day, regardless of any unpaid fees.
``(C) Substitute meal policies for children with
unpaid school meal fees.--
``(i) In general.--A local educational
agency that wishes to implement a substitute
meal policy for children with unpaid school
meal fees shall develop a plan described in
clause (ii) to ensure that the policy does not
create stigma with respect to such children.
``(ii) Plan description.--The plan shall be
approved in writing by the applicable State
agency and include an explanation of--
``(I) how the policy will be
implemented so that stigma is not
created;
``(II) how staff will be trained to
ensure that the policy is carried out
correctly; and
``(III) how the affected households
will be provided with assistance in
establishing eligibility for free or
reduced-price school meals.
``(D) Eligibility determination.--For any child who
is a member of a household that owes a week or more of
fees for meals, a local educational agency shall--
``(i) attempt to directly certify the child
for free meals under paragraph (4) or (5); or
``(ii) in a case where the local
educational agency is not able to directly
certify the child under paragraph (4) or (5),
provide to the household--
``(I) a household application and
applicable descriptive material; and
``(II) written and oral
communications to encourage the
household to submit the application.
``(E) Unpaid fees.--The local educational agency
may attempt to collect unpaid school meal fees from a
household, but the local educational agency shall not--
``(i) take any action directed at a child
who is a member of the household, including
withholding educational opportunities or
stigmatizing the child; or
``(ii) use a debt collector (as such term
is defined in section 803 of the Consumer
Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a)) to
attempt to collect unpaid fees from the
household.''.
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