II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1064 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit 

the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for meals. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2017 

Mr. UDALL (for himself, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to prohibit the stigmatization of children who are 

unable to pay for meals. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Lunch Shaming 

5 Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON STIGMATIZATION OF CHILDREN 

7 WHO ARE UNABLE TO PAY FOR MEALS. 

8 Section 9(b)(10) of the Richard B. Russell National 

9 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(10)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(10) No physical’’ and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(10) DISCRIMINATORY OR STIGMATIZING

4 TREATMENT OF CHILDREN BY SCHOOLS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON ELIGI6 BILITY.—No physical’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) STIGMATIZATION BASED ON LACK OF

9 FUNDS OR DEBT.— 

10 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF COVERED

11 CHILD.—In this subparagraph, the term 

12 ‘covered child’ means a child who— 

13 ‘‘(I) is a student at a school that 

14 participates in— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the school lunch pro16 gram established under this Act; 

17 or 

18 ‘‘(bb) the school breakfast 

19 program established by section 4 

20 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

21 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); and 

22 ‘‘(II)(aa) does not have funds to 

23 pay for a lunch or breakfast at the 

24 school; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) has outstanding credit that 

2 was extended by a school food author3 ity for a lunch or breakfast at the 

4 school. 

5 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS OF SCHOOL

6 FOOD AUTHORITIES.— 

7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A school food 

8 authority shall not permit— 

9 ‘‘(aa) the public identifica10 tion or stigmatization of a cov11 ered child, such as by requiring 

12 the covered child to wear a wrist13 band or display a hand stamp to 

14 identify the covered child as a 

15 covered child; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) any requirement that 

17 a covered child, because of the 

18 status of the covered child as a 

19 covered child— 

20 ‘‘(AA) perform chores 

21 or any other activity that is 

22 not required of students 

23 generally; or 

24 ‘‘(BB) dispose of a 

25 lunch or breakfast after it 


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1 has been served to the cov2 ered child. 

3 ‘‘(II) COMMUNICATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Sub5 ject to item (bb), a school food 

6 authority shall require that any 

7 communication relating to an 

8 outstanding credit described in 

9 clause (i)(II)(bb) of a covered 

10 child shall be directed— 

11 ‘‘(AA) to a parent or 

12 guardian of the covered 

13 child; and 

14 ‘‘(BB) not to the cov15 ered child. 

16 ‘‘(bb) LETTERS.—A school 

17 food authority may permit a re18 quirement that a covered child 

19 deliver a letter addressed to a 

20 parent or guardian of the covered 

21 child that contains a communica22 tion described in item (aa), sub23 ject to the condition that the let24 ter shall not be distributed to the 


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1 covered child in a manner that 

2 stigmatizes the covered child.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Agri5 culture should ensure that— 

6 (1)(A) to the maximum extent practicable, an 

7 application for a free or reduced price lunch under 

8 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is distributed— 

10 (i) in an understandable and uniform for11 mat; and 

12 (ii) by not later than July 1 each year; and 

13 (B) a school food authority offers technical as14 sistance to a parent or legal guardian to complete an 

15 application described in subparagraph (A); 

16 (2) each school food authority coordinates 

17 with— 

18 (A) the local educational agency liaison 

19 designated under section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 

20 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)) to ensure that home22 less children and youths eligible to receive free 

23 lunches and breakfasts under section 

24 9(b)(12)(A)(iv) of the Richard B. Russell Na25 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 


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1 1758(b)(12)(A)(iv)) receive those free lunches 

2 and breakfasts; and 

3 (B) the State agency responsible for ad4 ministering the State plans under parts B and 

5 E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 621 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) to 

7 ensure that foster children eligible to receive 

8 free lunches and breakfasts under section 

9 9(b)(12)(A)(vii) of the Richard B. Russell Na10 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 1758(b)(12)(A)(vii)) receive those free lunches 

12 and breakfasts; and 

13 (3) a school food authority that participates in 

14 the school lunch program or the school breakfast 

15 program under the Richard B. Russell National 

16 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or sec17 tion 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 

18 1773), respectively— 

19 (A) shall provide to a child who requests a 

20 lunch or breakfast a lunch or breakfast, regard21 less of whether the child— 

22 (i) has money to pay for the lunch or 

23 breakfast; or 

24 (ii) owes money for a lunch or break25 fast; 


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1 (B) shall not provide to a child who quali2 fies for a free or reduced price lunch or break3 fast an alternate meal that is not provided to 

4 students generally; and 

5 (C) should explore innovative ways to use 

6 technology to improve and coordinate commu7 nications with parents and guardians with re8 spect to functions such as— 

9 (i) prepayment for meals; 

10 (ii) checking balances for school 

11 meals; 

12 (iii) adding funds to accounts for 

13 school meals; 

14 (iv) addressing outstanding debt for 

15 school meals; and 

16 (v) sending automatic emails when an 

17 account balance is low. 

Æ 


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