I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8844 

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

direct certification under the school lunch program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2024 

Mrs. HAYES (for herself, Mr. BACON, and Ms. ROSS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch 

program. 

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 ‘‘Caregivers, Access, and 

5 Responsible Expansion for Kids Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘CARE for Kids Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ENHANCING DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 

8 Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National 

9 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

2 by inserting ‘‘(including any school operated by the 

3 Bureau of Indian Education)’’ before ‘‘may certify’’; 

4 and 

5 (2) in subparagraph (E)— 

6 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (B) in clause (ii)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘who’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘whom’’; and 

11 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

12 and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(iii) a child whose placement with a 

15 caregiver was carried out with the involve16 ment of an agency that administers a 

17 State plan under part B or E of title IV 

18 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 

19 et seq.) or a tribal child welfare agency, 

20 without regard to whether the agency is re21 sponsible for the care and placement of the 

22 child; 

23 ‘‘(iv) a child for whom an adoption as24 sistance payment is made under section 

25 473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 


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1 U.S.C. 673(a)) or under a similar State2 funded or State-operated program, as de3 termined by the Secretary; 

4 ‘‘(v) a child for whom a kinship 

5 guardianship assistance payment is made 

6 under section 473(d) of the Social Security 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) or under a similar 

8 State-funded or State-operated program, 

9 as determined by the Secretary, without 

10 regard to whether the child was previously 

11 in foster care; or 

12 ‘‘(vi) a child of a family that— 

13 ‘‘(I) lives in housing dedicated to 

14 low-income families with a caregiver 

15 who is a grandparent or another older 

16 person that cares for the child full17 time; or 

18 ‘‘(II) receives housing or housing 

19 assistance under the Native American 

20 Housing Assistance and Self-Deter21 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 

22 4101 et seq.).’’. 

23 SEC. 3. EXTENDED ELIGIBILITY. 

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

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


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub2 paragraph (D); 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBILITY OF TRANSFERRED CHIL6 DREN.— 

7 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF COVERED

8 CHILD.—In this subparagraph, the term 

9 ‘covered child’ means a child that— 

10 ‘‘(I) has been determined eligible 

11 for free or reduced price meals under 

12 this Act by a local educational agency 

13 (referred to in this subparagraph as 

14 the ‘original local educational agen15 cy’); and 

16 ‘‘(II) transfers to another school 

17 that is under the jurisdiction of a dif18 ferent local educational agency (re19 ferred to in this subparagraph as the 

20 ‘new local educational agency’). 

21 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY.—An eligibility de22 termination made by an original local edu23 cational agency with respect to a covered 

24 child shall be transferred to, and honored 

25 by, the new local educational agency, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8844.IH H8844

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1 cluding the period for which that deter2 mination was authorized, subject to an ex3 tension under clause (iii). 

4 ‘‘(iii) EXTENSION OF DURATION.—A 

5 new local educational agency shall honor 

6 the eligibility determination for a covered 

7 child under clause (ii) for a period that is 

8 1 year longer than the period for which 

9 that determination was authorized by the 

10 original local educational agency if the cov11 ered child began living with a caregiver— 

12 ‘‘(I) in the 12-month period pre13 ceding the date on which the covered 

14 child is enrolled in a school under the 

15 jurisdiction of a new local educational 

16 agency; and 

17 ‘‘(II) who is— 

18 ‘‘(aa) a grandparent or 

19 other relative and has legal au20 thority to secure services for the 

21 child through an educational or 

22 healthcare consent affidavit, 

23 power of attorney, or other legal 

24 documentation; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) a grandparent or 

2 other relative and has legal cus3 tody of the child or has com4 menced the process of seeking 

5 legal custody of the child in a 

6 court of law.’’; and 

7 (3) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated)— 

8 (A) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 

9 subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and in10 denting appropriately; 

11 (B) in the matter preceding subclause (I) 

12 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘Except as’’ 

13 and all that follows through ‘‘(3)(H)(ii)’’ and 

14 inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as other16 wise specified in clause (ii), subparagraph 

17 (C), subparagraphs (E) and (H)(ii) of 

18 paragraph (3)’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION FOR CERTAIN CHIL21 DREN.—A school food authority shall ex22 tend the eligibility determination made by 

23 a local educational agency with respect to 

24 a child for a period that is 1 year longer 

25 than the period for which that determinaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8844.IH H8844

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1 tion was authorized by the local edu2 cational agency, if the child began living 

3 with a caregiver— 

4 ‘‘(I) in the 12-month period pre5 ceding the date on which the covered 

6 child is enrolled in the new school; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(II) who is— 

9 ‘‘(aa) a grandparent or 

10 other relative and has legal au11 thority to secure services for the 

12 child through an educational or 

13 healthcare consent affidavit, 

14 power of attorney, or other legal 

15 documentation; or 

16 ‘‘(bb) a grandparent or 

17 other relative and has legal cus18 tody of the child or has com19 menced the process of seeking 

20 legal custody of the child in a 

21 court of law.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. EXPANDING AUTOMATIC ELIGIBILITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b)(12)(A) of the Rich24 ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 1758(b)(12)(A)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by conforming the margins of clauses (iv) 

2 through (vii) to the margin of clause (iii); and 

3 (2) in clause (vii)— 

4 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

5 the end; 

6 (B) in subclause (II)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘who’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘whom’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

10 and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(III) a child whose placement 

13 with a caregiver was carried out with 

14 the involvement of an agency that ad15 ministers a State plan under part B 

16 or E of title IV of the Social Security 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a tribal 

18 child welfare agency, without regard 

19 to whether the agency is responsible 

20 for the care and placement of the 

21 child; 

22 ‘‘(IV) a child for whom an adop23 tion assistance payment is made 

24 under section 473(a) of the Social Se25 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) or 


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1 under a similar State-funded or State2 operated program, as determined by 

3 the Secretary; 

4 ‘‘(V) a child for whom a kinship 

5 guardianship assistance payment is 

6 made under section 473(d) of the So7 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)) 

8 or under a similar State-funded or 

9 State-operated program, as deter10 mined by the Secretary, without re11 gard to whether the child was pre12 viously in foster care; or 

13 ‘‘(VI) a child of a family that— 

14 ‘‘(aa) lives in housing dedi15 cated to low-income families with 

16 a caregiver who is a grandparent 

17 or another older person that 

18 cares for the child full-time; or 

19 ‘‘(bb) receives housing or 

20 housing assistance under the Na21 tive American Housing Assist22 ance and Self-Determination Act 

23 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et 

24 seq.).’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 9(d)(2) of 

2 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 1758(d)(2)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘clauses 

5 (iv) or (v)’’ and inserting ‘‘clauses (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), 

6 or (vii)’’; 

7 (2) in subparagraph (E), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (3) by striking subparagraph (F); and 

10 (4) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as sub11 paragraph (F) and conforming the margin of sub12 paragraph (F) (as so redesignated) appropriately. 

13 SEC. 5. MEDICAID DIRECT CERTIFICATION. 

14 Section 9(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Richard B. Russell Na15 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(15)(A)(i)) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by 

18 striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; 

20 (2) in subclause (I), by redesignating items (aa) 

21 and (bb) as subitems (AA) and (BB), respectively; 

22 (3) by redesignating subclauses (I) and (II) as 

23 items (aa) and (bb), respectively; 

24 (4) in item (bb), as so redesignated, by striking 

25 ‘‘regulations) with a child described in subclause 


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1 (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘regulations)) with a child de2 scribed in item (aa)’’; and 

3 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(II) OTHER CHILDREN.—The term 

5 ‘eligible child’ includes a child that receives 

6 medical assistance under the Medicaid pro7 gram— 

8 ‘‘(aa) under subclause (I) of sec9 tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of the Social 

10 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) on the basis of 

12 receiving aid or assistance under the 

13 State plan approved under part E of 

14 title IV of that Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et 

15 seq.) or by reason of section 473(b) of 

16 that Act (42 U.S.C. 673(b)); or 

17 ‘‘(bb) under subclause (II) of sec18 tion 1902(a)(10)(A)(i) of that Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)) on the 

20 basis of receiving supplemental secu21 rity income benefits.’’. 

Æ 


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