[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4417 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4417

   To improve outreach and enrollment for the Supplemental Nutrition 
                          Assistance Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 12, 2010

  Mr. Sestak introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve outreach and enrollment for the Supplemental Nutrition 
                          Assistance Program.

    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 ``SNAP Education and Outreach Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TO IMPROVE OUTREACH AND ENROLLMENT FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL 
              NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) Outreach and Enrollment Grants; National Campaign.--
            (1) In general.--From the amounts appropriated under 
        subsection (g), subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary of 
        Agriculture shall award grants to eligible entities during the 
        period of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to conduct outreach, 
        enrollment, and renewal assistance efforts that are designed to 
        increase the enrollment and participation of eligible 
        individuals and families under the supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program established under the Food and Nutrition Act 
        of 2008.
            (2) Ten percent set aside for national enrollment 
        campaign.--An amount equal to 10 percent of such amounts shall 
        be used by the Secretary for expenditures during such period to 
        carry out a national enrollment campaign in accordance with 
        subsection (h).
    (b) Priority for Award of Grants.--
            (1) In general.--In awarding grants under subsection (a), 
        the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that--
                    (A) propose to target geographic areas with high 
                rates of--
                            (i) eligible but unenrolled individuals; or
                            (ii) racial and ethnic minorities, 
                        including those proposals that address cultural 
                        and linguistic barriers to enrollment;
                who are not participating in the supplemental nutrition 
                assistance program; or
                    (B) propose to target--
                            (i) households containing elderly or 
                        disabled individuals to expand access to 
                        nutrition;
                            (ii) families with children with special 
                        coordination with both the special supplemental 
                        nutrition assistance program for women, 
                        infants, and children (WIC) and the school 
                        nutrition program to ensure seamlessness;
                            (iii) homeless populations, including both 
                        sheltered and nonsheltered families and 
                        individuals;
                            (iv) persons applying for or receiving 
                        unemployment benefits;
                            (v) families with physically or mentally 
                        disabled children in the household (including 
                        families whose children receive Medicaid under 
                        a State plan waiver);
                            (vi) special attention to working families 
                        with children in the household who attend day 
                        care programs;
                            (vii) recipients or applicants seeking or 
                        receiving training for employment or 
                        advancement to reduce or eliminate dependency; 
                        or
                            (viii) applicants and recipients of 
                        disability benefits from government agencies;
                    (C) encourage supplemental nutrition assistance 
                program enrollees participation in nutrition education 
                programs; or
                    (D) provide case management assistance through the 
                application process; and
            (2) Outreach.--Submit the most demonstrable evidence 
        required under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c).
    (c) Application.--An eligible entity that desires to receive a 
grant under subsection (a) shall submit an application to the Secretary 
in such form and manner, and containing such information, as the 
Secretary determines to be appropriate. Such application shall 
include--
            (1) evidence demonstrating that the entity includes members 
        who have access to, and credibility with, ethnic or low-income 
        populations in the communities in which activities funded under 
        the grant are to be conducted;
            (2) evidence demonstrating that the entity has the ability 
        to address barriers to enrollment, including a lack of 
        knowledge of eligibility criteria, stigma concerns, or other 
        barriers to applying for and receiving governmental food 
        assistance and nutrition education;
            (3) specific quality or outcomes performance measures to 
        evaluate the effectiveness of activities funded by a grant 
        awarded under this section; and
            (4) an assurance that the eligible entity shall--
                    (A) conduct an assessment of the effectiveness of 
                such activities against the performance measures;
                    (B) cooperate with the collection and reporting of 
                enrollment data and other information in order for the 
                Secretary to conduct such assessments;
                    (C) in the case of an eligible entity that is not 
                the State or a State agency, provide the State with 
                enrollment data and other information as necessary for 
                the State to make necessary projections of eligible 
                individuals and families; and
                    (D) provide an assessment of legislative and 
                administrative barriers to increasing eligible 
                enrollment and recommendations for improvement.
    (d) Dissemination of Enrollment Data and Information Determined 
From Effectiveness Assessments; Annual Report.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) make publicly available the enrollment data and 
        information collected and reported in accordance with 
        subsection (c)(4)(B);
            (2) make publicly available and provide to the grantee the 
        approval rate for applications submitted by the targeted 
        population (whether geographic and or demographic in nature) 
        and specifically those applications submitted through the 
        grantee; and
            (3) submit an annual report to Congress on the outreach and 
        enrollment activities conducted with funds appropriated under 
        this section.
This report shall also contain a compiling of the assessments required 
under subsection (c)(4)(D) along with the Secretary's findings and 
legislative suggestions to maximize eligible enrollment.
    (e) No Match Required for Any Eligible Entity Awarded a Grant.--No 
eligible entity awarded a grant under subsection (a) shall be required 
to provide any matching funds as a condition for receiving the grant.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means 
        any of the following:
                    (A) A State with an approved supplemental nutrition 
                assistance plan under the Food and Nutrition Act of 
                2008.
                    (B) A local government or State agency.
                    (C) An Indian tribe or tribal consortium, a tribal 
                organization, an urban Indian organization receiving 
                funds under title V of the Indian Health Care 
                Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), or an Indian 
                Health Service provider.
                    (D) A Federal health safety net organization.
                    (E) A national, State, local, or community-based 
                public or nonprofit private organization, including 
                organizations that use community health workers or 
                community-based doula programs.
                    (F) A faith-based organization or consortum, to the 
                extent that a grant awarded to such an entity is 
                consistent with the requirements of section 1955 of the 
                Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x-65) relating 
                to a grant award to nongovernmental entities.
            (2) Federal health safety net organization.--The term 
        ``Federal health safety net organization'' means--
                    (A) a federally qualified health center (as defined 
                in section 1905(l)(2)(B)) of the Social Security Act;
                    (B) a hospital defined as a disproportionate share 
                hospital for purposes of section 1923 of the Social 
                Security Act;
                    (C) a covered entity described in section 
                340B(a)(4) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
                256b(a)(4)); and
                    (D) any other entity or consortium that serves 
                children under a federally funded program, including 
                the special supplemental nutrition program for women, 
                infants, and children (WIC) established under section 
                17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), 
                Head Start and Early Head Start programs under the Head 
                Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.), the school lunch 
                program established under the Richard B. Russell 
                National School Lunch Act, and an elementary or 
                secondary school.
            (3) Indians; indian tribe; tribal organization; urban 
        indian organization.--The terms ``Indian'', ``Indian tribe'', 
        ``tribal organization'', and ``urban Indian organization'' have 
        the meanings given such terms in section 4 of the Indian Health 
        Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603).
            (4) Community health worker.--The term ``community health 
        worker'' means an individual who promotes health or nutrition 
        within the community in which the individual resides--
                    (A) by serving as a liaison between communities and 
                health care agencies;
                    (B) by providing guidance and social assistance to 
                community residents;
                    (C) by enhancing community residents' ability to 
                effectively communicate with health care providers;
                    (D) by providing culturally and linguistically 
                appropriate health or nutrition education;
                    (E) by advocating for individual and community 
                health or nutrition needs; and
                    (F) by providing referral and followup services.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
    (g) Authorization.--There is authorized $100,000,000 for the period 
of fiscal years 2010 through 2014, for the purpose of awarding grants 
under this section.
    (h) National Enrollment Campaign.--From the amounts made available 
under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall develop and implement a 
national enrollment campaign to improve the eligible enrollment of 
underserved populations in the supplemental nutrition assistance 
program. Such campaign may include--
            (1) the establishment of partnerships with the Secretary 
        and other Federal agencies that are conducting similar national 
        efforts that would contain significant overlapping of target 
        populations;
            (2) the integration of this program and other Department of 
        Agriculture efforts to increase supplemental nutrition 
        assistance program enrollment percentage;
            (3) increased financial and technical support for 
        enrollment hotlines maintained by the Secretary to ensure that 
        all States participate in such hotlines;
            (4) the development of special outreach materials for 
        Native Americans or for individuals with limited English 
        proficiency; and
            (5) such other outreach initiatives as the Secretary 
        determines would increase public awareness of the supplemental 
        nutrition assistance program.
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