1.This Act may be cited as
the Enhancing Child Health with
Automatic School Meal Enrollment Act of 2009
.
2.Improving direct
certification
(a)Section 9(b)(4) of the Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)) is amended—
(1)in the paragraph
heading, by striking food
stamp
and inserting supplemental nutrition assistance
program
; and
(2)by adding at the
end the following:
(E)
(i)Effective for each of the schools years beginning July 1,
2010, July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012, the Secretary shall offer performance
awards to States to encourage the States to ensure that all children eligible
for direct certification under this paragraph are certified in accordance with
this paragraph.
(ii)For
each school year described in clause (i), the Secretary shall—
(I)consider State
data from the prior school year, including estimates contained in the report
required under section 4301 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
(42 U.S.C. 1758a); and
(II)make performance
awards to, as determined by the Secretary—
- (aa)5
States that demonstrate outstanding performance; and
- (bb)5
States that demonstrate substantial improvement.
(iii)
(I)On October 1, 2009, and on each October 1 thereafter
through October 1, 2011, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary, to
remain available until expended—
- (aa)$2,000,000 to
carry out clause (ii)(I); and
- (bb)$2,000,000 to
carry out clause (ii)(II).
(II)The Secretary shall be entitled to receive, shall
accept, and shall use to carry out this clause the funds transferred under
subclause (I), without further
appropriation.
.
(b)Section 9(b)(4) of the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)) (as amended by subsection (a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
(F)
(i)Each school year, the Secretary shall—
(I)identify, using
estimates contained in the report required under section 4301 of the Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 1758a), States that directly
certify less than 95 percent of the total number of children in the State who
are eligible for direct certification under this paragraph; and
(II)require the
States identified under subclause (I) to implement a corrective action plan to
fully meet the requirements of this paragraph.
(ii)A State may include in a corrective action plan under
clause (i)(II) methods to improve direct certification required under this
paragraph or paragraph (15) and discretionary certification under paragraph
(5).
(iii)Failure to
meet performance standard
(I)A State that is required to implement a corrective action
plan under clause (i)(II) shall be required to submit to the Secretary, for the
approval of the Secretary, a direct certification improvement plan for the
following school year.
(II)A
direct certification improvement plan under subclause (I) shall include—
- (aa)specific
measures that the State will use to identify more children who are eligible for
direct certification;
- (bb)a
timeline for the State to implement those measures; and
- (cc)goals for the
State to improve direct certification
results.
.
(c)Without further
applicationSection 9(b)(4) of the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(4)) (as amended by subsection (b)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
(G)Without further
application
(i)In this paragraph, the term without further
application
means that no action is required by the household of the
child.
(ii)A
requirement that a household return a letter notifying the household of
eligibility for direct certification or eligibility for free school meals does
not meet the requirements of clause
(i).
.
3.Report on using
statewide education databases for direct certification
(a)Not
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Education shall prepare and submit to Congress a report regarding how statewide
databases developed by States to track compliance with the requirements of part
A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
6311 et seq.) can be used for purposes of direct certification under section
9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1758(b)).
(b)The
report described in subsection (a) shall—
(1)identify the
States that have, as of the time of the report, developed statewide databases
to track compliance with the requirements of part A of title I of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.);
(2)describe best
practices regarding how such statewide databases can be used for purposes of
direct certification under section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b));
(3)include case
studies of States that have expanded such statewide databases so that such
statewide databases can be used for direct certification purposes; and
(4)identify States
with such statewide databases that would be appropriate for expansion for
direct certification purposes.
(c)
(1)On October 1, 2009, out of any funds in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the
Secretary to carry out this section $500,000, to remain available through
September 30, 2012.
(2)The Secretary shall be entitled to receive, shall
accept, and shall use to carry out this section the funds transferred under
paragraph (1), without further appropriation.