Before Congress adjourned for the holidays, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-296), was passed on 12/13/10.  The Act, in Section 102, amends a key provision of the National School Lunch Act (42 USC 1758) to make any foster child categorically eligible, without the necessity of an application, for free school meals if the child’s “care and placement is the responsibility (of an agency that administers a state IV-B or IV-E plan)” or if a “court has placed (the child) with a caretaker household”. 

In a 1/31/11 guidance letter issued to child nutrition program directors across the country by Cynthia Long, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (DOA) child nutrition division, she indicated that all a local educational agency need receive is documentation from an appropriate state or local child welfare agency indicating that a child is a foster child under state responsibility or has been placed in a caretaker household by a court.  These provisions, according to her letter, are effective as of 10/1/10. As I read the new provisions of the law, in addition to all foster children placed by a child welfare agency being eligible (regardless of whether they are IV-E qualified), a child placed by a court into a kinship home or other “caretaker” household would also be eligible. 

Responding to these implementation measures, David A. Hansell, acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said, "These children [in care] are more susceptible to high poverty communities. Taking the approach of providing those children access to healthy, balanced, nutritious meals without limitations to income only shows our commitment in providing the best quality of life for many deserving children and their families."

About Kay Casey

Kay Casey has over 20 years of experience in federal and state child welfare policy and programs, having worked for the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Florida Department of Children and Families prior to joining PCG. She is responsible for the review and assessment of fiscal processing systems that impact a state’s ability to identify, document, and report expenditures for federal reporting purposes accompanied with the programmatic impact on the state’s system of care.

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