No Shame at School Act of 2022
Bill: H.R.8477 | Sponsor: Rep. Omar, Ilhan (D-MN)
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
No Shame at School Act of 2022
This bill establishes requirements for the treatment of a child who is participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program and owes unpaid school meal fees. It also requires local educational agencies to certify certain children (e.g., homeless children) as categorically eligible for free lunches or breakfasts without an application.

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require 
    mandatory certification for certain students and reduce stigma 
    associated with unpaid school 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 ``No Shame at School Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. UNPAID MEAL DEBT.

    (a) Mandatory Certification.--Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``Discretionary'' and 
        inserting ``Mandatory'';
            (2) by striking ``any local'' and inserting ``a local''; 
        and
            (3) by striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall''.
    (b) Retroactive Reimbursement.--Section 9(b)(9)(C) of the Richard 
B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(9)(C)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``Except'' and inserting the following:
                            ``(i) In general.--Except'';
            (2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) 
        and (II); and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Retroactivity.--A local educational 
                        agency shall revise a previously submitted meal 
                        claim to reflect the eligibility approval of a 
                        child for free or reduced price meals for the 
                        period that begins on the first day of the 
                        current school year.
                            ``(iii) Meal claim defined.--In this 
                        subsection, the term `meal claim' means any 
                        documentation provided by a school food 
                        authority to a State agency in order to receive 
                        reimbursement for the cost of a meal served to 
                        a child by such school food authority.''.
    (c) Reducing Stigma Associated With Unpaid School 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) Reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal 
        fees.--
                    ``(A) Overt identification prohibited.--A local 
                educational agency or school food authority may not, 
                based on the status of a covered child as a covered 
                child--
                            ``(i) physically segregate such covered 
                        child;
                            ``(ii) overtly identify such covered 
                        child--
                                    ``(I) through the use of special 
                                tokens or tickets; or
                                    ``(II) by an announcement or a 
                                published list of names; or
                            ``(iii) identify or stigmatize such covered 
                        child by any other means.
                    ``(B) Eligibility determination by local 
                educational agency.--For any covered child who is a 
                member of a household that owes a week or more of 
                unpaid school meal fees, a local educational agency 
                shall--
                            ``(i) attempt to directly certify such 
                        covered 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 such covered child under paragraph (4) 
                        or (5), provide to the household of such 
                        covered child--
                                    ``(I) a household application and 
                                applicable descriptive material; and
                                    ``(II) written and oral 
                                communications to encourage submission 
                                of the application.
                    ``(C) Collection of unpaid school meal fees.--In 
                attempting to collect unpaid school meal fees from a 
                household, a local educational agency or school food 
                authority may not--
                            ``(i) except as described in subparagraph 
                        (D), direct any communication regarding unpaid 
                        school meal fees to a covered child who is a 
                        member of such household;
                            ``(ii) withhold educational opportunities 
                        (including grades and participation in 
                        extracurricular activities or local educational 
                        agency programs or services) from, or otherwise 
                        stigmatize, a covered child due to the status 
                        of the covered child as a covered child; or
                            ``(iii) use a debt collector (as such term 
                        is defined in section 803 of the Consumer 
                        Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a)).
                    ``(D) Letters.--A school food authority may require 
                that a covered child deliver a sealed letter addressed 
                to a parent or guardian of the covered child that 
                contains a communication relating to unpaid school meal 
                fees, subject to the condition that the letter shall 
                not be distributed to the covered child in a manner 
                that stigmatizes the covered child.
                    ``(E) Eliminating stigma in meal service.--In 
                providing a meal to a covered child, a local 
                educational agency or school food authority may not, 
                based on the status of the covered child as a covered 
                child, dispose of or take away from the covered child 
                any food that has already been served to such covered 
                child.
                    ``(F) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Covered child.--The term `covered 
                        child' means a child who--
                                    ``(I) is enrolled in a school that 
                                participates in 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); and
                                    ``(II) is a member of a household 
                                that owes unpaid school meal fees.
                            ``(ii) Unpaid school meal fees.--The term 
                        `unpaid school meal fees' means outstanding 
                        fees owed by a household to a local educational 
                        agency for lunches under this Act or breakfasts 
                        under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 
                        1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).''.
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