Title: No Shame at School Act of 2022
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.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4602 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4602

 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to prohibit 
the stigmatization of children who are unable to pay for school meals, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 25, 2022

   Ms. Smith 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 school meals, 
                        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. 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 paragraph heading, by striking ``Discretionary'' 
        and inserting ``Mandatory''; and
            (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``may'' and inserting ``shall''.

SEC. 3. 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 redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) 
        and (II), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
            (2) in the matter preceding subclause (I) (as so 
        redesignated), by striking ``Except'' and inserting the 
        following:
                            ``(i) In general.--Except''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) Retroactivity.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--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.
                                    ``(II) Meal claim defined.--In this 
                                clause, 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 that school 
                                food authority.''.

SEC. 4. REDUCING STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH UNPAID SCHOOL MEAL FEES.

    Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (10) and inserting 
the following:
            ``(10) Reducing stigma associated with unpaid school meal 
        fees.--
                    ``(A) 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 lunch provided under this Act or 
                        breakfast provided under section 4 of the Child 
                        Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
                    ``(B) 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 the covered 
                        child;
                            ``(ii) overtly identify the 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 the covered 
                        child by any other means.
                    ``(C) Eligibility determination by local 
                educational agency.--For any covered child who is a 
                member of a household that has unpaid school meal fees 
                for 1 consecutive week of meals or more, a local 
                educational agency shall--
                            ``(i) attempt to directly certify the 
                        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 the covered child under paragraph (4) 
                        or (5), provide to the household of the covered 
                        child--
                                    ``(I) a household application and 
                                applicable descriptive material; and
                                    ``(II) written and oral 
                                communications to encourage submission 
                                of the application.
                    ``(D) 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 
                        (E), direct any communication regarding unpaid 
                        school meal fees to a covered child who is a 
                        member of the 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 defined in 
                        section 803 of the Consumer Credit Protection 
                        Act (15 U.S.C. 1692a)).
                    ``(E) 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.
                    ``(F) 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 the covered 
                child.''.
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