WASHINGTON — On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., introduced The School Modernization and Efficient Access to Lunches for Students Act of 2019 (S. 2692), which would improve school nutrition programs and expand access to school meals for vulnerable children. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2018, more than 11 million children faced food insecurity and school nutrition programs are essential to ensuring children have access to healthy meals.
The School Modernization and Efficient Access to Lunches for Students (School MEALS) Act would make commonsense improvements to direct certification and community eligibility. Direct certification allows schools to use data matching procedures to approve school meals without the need for an application, and the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) enables high-need districts to offer free meals to all students.
The bill helps improve these tools, which address existing barriers that continue to prevent many eligible districts from adopting CEP and or having effective direct certification processes. Direct certification and CEP have been shown to significantly increase access to school breakfast and lunch programs, reduce burdensome administrative work and help eliminate unpaid meal debt.
“Millions of children are struggling every day with not knowing where their next meal is coming from,” said Casey. “We know that many children rely on school meals to get nutritious foods on a daily basis, and that free and reduced lunch programs help millions of children nationwide. I introduced the School MEALS Act to reduce food insecurity and prevent children from going hungry. Children who have enough to eat are better able to learn in the classroom and thrive.”
Specifically, the School MEALS Act of 2019 would:
· Fund direct certification improvements through USDA grants and technical assistance;
· Expedite the process through which states must implement necessary direct certification improvements;
· Provide added timing flexibilities for schools to elect CEP and gather eligibility data.
