Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

This bill would, on or before September 1, 2018, require a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high poverty school, as defined, in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision pursuant to specified federal law, and to begin providing breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty school upon state approval to operate that service. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal free meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school. The bill would provide that certain charter schools are considered very high poverty schools for purposes of these provisions and would provide that those charter schools are required to comply with the requirements imposed on and are authorized to exercise the authority granted to school districts and county superintendents of schools pursuant to these provisions. Because the bill would impose additional duties on school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school from these provisions if the governing board of the school district or county office of education, or the governing body of the charter school, adopts a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of these provisions due to fiscal hardship.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with local educational agencies. The bill would impose specified requirements on the State Department of Education and local educational agencies relating to the privacy and confidentiality of that participation data. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to use that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupils eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty pursuant to specified state and federal law.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

This bill would, on or before September 1, 2018, require a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high poverty school, as defined, in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision pursuant to specified federal law, and to begin providing breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty school upon state approval to operate that service. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal free meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school. The bill would provide that certain charter schools are considered very high poverty schools for purposes of these provisions and would provide that those charter schools are required to comply with the requirements imposed on and are authorized to exercise the authority granted to school districts and county superintendents of schools pursuant to these provisions. Because the bill would impose additional duties on school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school from these provisions if the governing board of the school district or county office of education, or the governing body of the charter school, adopts a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of these provisions due to fiscal hardship.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with local educational agencies. The bill would impose specified requirements on the State Department of Education and local educational agencies relating to the privacy and confidentiality of that participation data. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to use that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupils eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty pursuant to specified state and federal law.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

This bill would, on or before September 1, 2018, require a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high poverty school, as defined, in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision pursuant to specified federal law, and to begin providing breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty school upon state approval to operate that service. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal free meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school. The bill would provide that certain charter schools are considered very high poverty schools for purposes of these provisions and would provide that those charter schools are required to comply with the requirements, and are authorized to exercise the authority, imposed on school districts and county superintendents of schools pursuant to these provisions. Because the bill would impose additional duties on school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school from these provisions if the governing board of the school district or county office of education, or the governing body of the charter school, adopts a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of these provisions due to fiscal hardship.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with school districts. local educational agencies. The bill would impose specified requirements on the State Department of Education and local educational agencies relating to the privacy and confidentiality of that participation data. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to use that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupils eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty pursuant to specified state and federal law.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

This bill would, on or before September 1, 2018, require a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high poverty school, as defined, in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision pursuant to specified federal law, and to begin providing breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty school upon state approval to operate that service. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal free meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school. The bill would provide that certain charter schools are considered very high poverty schools for purposes of these provisions and would provide that those charter schools are required to comply with the requirements, and are authorized to exercise the authority, imposed on school districts and county superintendents of schools pursuant to these provisions. Because the bill would impose additional duties on school districts and districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt a school district or district, county superintendent of schools schools, or charter school from these provisions if the governing board of the school district or county office of education education, or the governing body of the charter school, adopts a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of these provisions due to fiscal hardship.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with school districts. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to use that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupils eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty pursuant to specified state and federal law.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with school districts. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to use that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupils eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty pursuant to specified state and federal law.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with school districts. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to use that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

This bill would, on or before September 1, 2018, require a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high poverty school, as defined, in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision pursuant to specified federal law, and to begin providing breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty school upon state approval to operate that service. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal free meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school. Because the bill would impose additional duties on school districts and county superintendents of schools, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with school districts. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to implement a system of direct certification by using use that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil, as defined, one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications and electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils, as provided, and requires the applications to meet certain specifications and include certain information.

This bill would, on or before September 1, 2018, require a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high poverty school, as defined, in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a universal meal service pursuant to specified federal law, and to begin providing breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty school upon state approval to operate that service. The bill would authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal free meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school. Because the bill would impose additional duties on school districts and county superintendents of schools, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to share that participation data with school districts. The bill would require a local educational agency participating in a federal school meal program to implement a system of direct certification by using that participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 201718 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law. Because the bill would impose additional duties on these local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

 UNFINISHED BUSINESS  

Bill No: SB 138

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-0, 3/15/17

AYES: Allen, Wilk, Galgiani, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/25/17

AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Bradford, Hill, Nielsen, Wiener

SENATE FLOOR: 40-0, 6/1/17

AYES: Allen, Anderson, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Bradford, Cannella, De León, Dodd, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Newman, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 9/7/17 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: California Food Policy Advocates

DIGEST:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), to develop and implement a process to use Medi-Cal data to directly certify children whose families meet the income criteria into the school meal program; requires school districts and county offices of education with high poverty schools and high poverty charter schools currently participating in the breakfast or lunch program to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools; and, authorizes a school district, county office of education or charter school to opt-out due to fiscal hardship.

Assembly Amendments

:

1. Require a school district or county superintendent of schools, that has a very high poverty school, as defined, in its jurisdiction, or a charter school that participates in the federal National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program, or both, and meets the definition of a very high poverty school, on or before September 1, 2018, to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision pursuant to specified federal law, and to begin providing breakfast and lunch free of charge through the universal meal service to all pupils at the very high poverty school upon state approval to operate that service.
2. Authorize a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school to stop providing the universal free meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school.
3. Exempt a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school from these provisions if the governing board of the school district or county office of education adopts a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of these provisions due to fiscal hardship.
4. Authorize a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupil’s eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty pursuant to specified state and federal law.
5. Impose specified requirements on the CDE and local educational agencies relating to the privacy and confidentiality of participation data.

ANALYSIS:

Existing federal law:

1. Requires local educational agencies to directly certify for free meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as CalFresh in California. (Title 7 Code of Federal Regulations § 245.6(b)(1))
2. Requires direct certification via CalFresh to occur three times per school year: once at or around the beginning of the school year, three months after the initial effort, and six months after the initial effort. (7 CFR § 245.6(b))
3. Authorizes local educational agencies to directly certify for free or reduced-price meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under CalFresh or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, known as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWorks) in California, or who are enrolled in Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California. (7 CFR § 245.6(b)(2), § 245.6a(g))

Existing state law:

1. Requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. (Education Code § 49550)
2. Requires CDE, in consultation with DHCS, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income and, to the extent permitted under federal law, directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program. (EC § 49562)
3. Requires CDE to limit the information needed from DHCS to identify families whose income falls below the eligibility cutoff for free or reduced-price meals, and the least amount of information needed to facilitate a match of local school records.
4. Requires CDE and DHCS to design this process to maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients by establishing privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with all applicable state and federal laws.

This bill requires the CDE, in consultation with the DHCS, to develop and implement a process to use Medi-Cal data to directly certify children whose families meet the income criteria into the school meal program; requires school districts and county offices of education with high poverty schools and high poverty charter schools currently participating in the breakfast or lunch program to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools; and, authorizes a school district, county office of education or charter school to opt-out due to fiscal hardship. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires a local educational agency that participates in a federal school meal program to use Medi-Cal participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 2017–18 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law.
2. Specifies the Medi-Cal participation data is exempt from the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act; specifies the Medi-Cal participation data shall be used only for the purposes of direct certification, shall not be open to the public for inspection, and shall not be disclosed to any other party without the written consent of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil, except for the purpose of directly certifying pupils for free and reduced-price meals or as otherwise required or authorized by law or state or federal court order; and, specifies this bill does not prohibit the disclosure of aggregate data that does not reveal personally identifying information about a pupil or his or her family.
3. Requires local educational agencies to maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients through privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with applicable state and federal laws; and, the department and local educational agencies shall utilize appropriate technical and security safeguards to ensure any Medi-Cal participation data is protected, consistent with applicable state and federal laws.
4. Defines a "very high poverty school" as a school that enrolls pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and is eligible to receive the free federal reimbursement rate for all reimbursable school breakfasts and lunches served, pursuant to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
5. Requires, in order to provide pupils in very high poverty schools with optimal nutrition for learning and to ensure that schools receive the maximum federal meal reimbursement, a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at a very high poverty school.
6. Requires a charter school to be considered a very high poverty school if it participates in the federal National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program, or both, and meets the definition of a high poverty school; and, specifies a very high poverty school charter school shall comply with the requirement to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils, and the governing body of such charter school may exercise the authority to adopt a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrate the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements to do fiscal hardship.
7. Requires, on or before September 1, 2018, a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high-poverty school in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision, which may include, but is not limited to, the CEP or Provision 2.
8. Requires a school district or county superintendent of schools to begin providing a universal meal to all pupils at a very high poverty school upon state approval to operate a universal meal service and authorizes a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school.
9. Authorizes the governing board of a school district or county office of education to adopt a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of this measure due to fiscal hardship, specifies the resolution shall be publicly noticed on at least two consecutive meeting agendas, on the first meeting agenda as an information item and on the second meeting agenda as an action item; and requires the governing board of the school district or county office of education to reconsider the resolution at least once every four years.

10) Authorizes a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupil's eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty.

11)Makes legislative findings and declarations that school meals are essential resources that prevent child hunger and support health and achievement and in California; and that almost all low-income children covered by public health insurance receive Medicaid which makes direct certification for school meals with Medicaid the most effective tool for identifying low-income pupils and increasing paperless certification for free and reduced-price school meals; and, specifies it is the intent of the Legislature to improve school districts' accuracy in identifying low-income pupils and to increase pupil access to school meals at the highest poverty schools.

Comments

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “California faces significant challenges in enrolling eligible low-income students in school meal programs. The students who are most in need of school meals are often the ones most likely to fall through the paper-application cracks of the process. For example, it may be harder for small school districts to identify low-income students with limited staffing, or for districts with more immigrants to achieve full enrollment through paper applications or direct certification from CalFresh & CalWORKS alone. Effective direct certification can be leveraged so that schools can use federal funds to serve meals free of charge to all students when enough low-income students are identified.”
2. Expands successful pilot program statewide. Last year, California successfully implemented a 14-district pilot program to directly certify through Medi-Cal. The pilot program resulted in an additional 60,000 enrollees in free and reduced-price meal programs, resulting in an additional $33 million in federal reimbursement. According to the author, CDE “estimates that a statewide program would benefit over 500,000 additional hungry students statewide.”
3. Provision 2. Provision 2 is a long-standing option available to any school for providing breakfast, lunch, or both at no charge. Reimbursement is based on the percentage of meals served in each category (free, reduced-price, and full-price) at the time the school begins a four-year cycle. In the first year (the base year), a school determines how many of its students are eligible for free, reduced-price, and full-price meals. A school can use direct certification or household applications to determine students’ eligibility. From this count of students, the school calculates what percentage of the student population is eligible for free, reduced-price, and full-price meals. The percentages apply for the remainder of the four-year cycle.
4. Community Eligibility Provision. CEP enables high-poverty schools to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge without collecting school meal applications. CEP is designed to benefit high-poverty schools. It relies upon enrollment through direct certification, which identifies students participating in means-tested programs like CalFresh and CalWORKS. CEP operates on a four year cycles, similar to Provision 2.

CEP uses a formula to determine the federal reimbursement for meals served to students: % of Identified Students x 1.6 = % of Meals Reimbursed at the “Free” (Highest) Rate. All other meals are reimbursed at the “paid” (lowest) rate of reimbursement. For example, if 60% of students meet the “identified” criteria, 96% of meals will be reimbursed at the “free” (highest) rate of per-meal federal reimbursement (60% x 1.6 = 96%), with the remaining 4% of meals reimbursed at the lower “paid” rate."

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Potential Proposition 98/General Fund (GF) reimbursable mandate costs. This bill requires school districts and county offices of education to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at high poverty schools starting on September 1, 2018. According to the CDE, approximately 72 school sites could be impacted and could result in approximately $1.1 million in additional Proposition 98/GF state meal reimbursements. However, it is likely that all of these sites are eligible for full federal reimbursement for eligible meals which would offset a majority of the mandated costs. This assumes that the schools will elect to participate in a universal meal option or successfully apply for federal meal reimbursement. At the local level, school districts would see a reduction in students' unpaid meal charges due to the utilization of a universal meal provision resulting in additional cost savings and reduction in unpaid meals.
2. Ongoing cost of $130,000 (General Fund) to CDE to review and process CEP applications, provide technical support, and train new staff. This bill's requirement for CDE to share Medi-Cal participation data with school districts and county offices of education's should be minor or absorbable, as this information is available electronically through the existing California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.

SUPPORT: (Verified 9/8/17)

California Food Policy Advocates (source)

A Better Course

Alameda County Community Food Bank

American Academy of Pediatrics, California

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

California Action for Healthy Kids

California Alternative Payment Program Association

California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance

California Association of Food Banks

California Catholic Conference, Inc.

California Children's Hospital Association

California School Employees Association

California School Nurses Organization

California School-Based Health Alliance

California State PTA

California Teachers Association

California WIC Association

Center for Ecoliteracy

Children's Defense Fund-California

Del Norte County Unified School District

Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano County

Food for People, Inc.

Health Officers Association of California

Hunger Action Los Angeles

Jewish Family Service of San Diego

Long Beach Alliance for Food and Fitness

National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter

Orange County Food Access Coalition

San Francisco Food Security Task Force

Service Employees International Union

SF-Marin Food Bank

United Ways of California

Western Center on Law & Poverty

Several individuals

OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/8/17)

None received

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 9/7/17

AYES: Acosta, Aguiar-Curry, Travis Allen, Arambula, Baker, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Caballero, Calderon, Cervantes, Chau, Chávez, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez Fletcher, Gray, Grayson, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Reyes, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wood, Rendon

Prepared by:

9/8/17 15:28:12

**** END ****

SENATE THIRD READING

STR Bill Id:

Author:(McGuire)

As Amended Ver:

Majority vote

SENATE VOTE: 40-0

SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services(DHCS), to develop and implement a process to use Medi-Cal data to directly certify children whose families meet the income criteria into the school meal program; requires school districts and county offices of education with high poverty schools and high poverty charter schools currently participating in the breakfast or lunch program to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools; and, authorizes a school district, county office of education or charter school to opt-out due to fiscal hardship. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires a local educational agency that participates in a federal school meal program to use Medi-Cal participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 2017–18 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law.
2. Specifies the Medi-Cal participation data is exempt from the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act; specifies the Medi-Cal participation data shall be used only for the purposes of direct certification, shall not be open to the public for inspection, and shall not be disclosed to any other party without the written consent of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil, except for the purpose of directly certifying pupils for free and reduced-price meals or as otherwise required or authorized by law or state or federal court order; and, specifies this measure does not prohibit the disclosure of aggregate data that does not reveal personally identifying information about a pupil or his or her family.
3. Requires local educational agencies to maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients through privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with applicable state and federal laws; and, the department and local educational agencies shall utilize appropriate technical and security safeguards to ensure any Medi-Cal participation data is protected, consistent with applicable state and federal laws.
4. Defines a "very high poverty school" as a school that enrolls pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and is eligible to receive the free federal reimbursement rate for all reimbursable school breakfasts and lunches served, pursuant to the Community Eligibility Provision.
5. Requires, in order to provide pupils in very high poverty schools with optimal nutrition for learning and to ensure that schools receive the maximum federal meal reimbursement, a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at a very high poverty school.
6. Requires a charter school to be considered a very high poverty school if it participates in the federal National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program, or both, and meets the definition of a high poverty school; and, specifies a very high poverty school charter school shall comply with the requirement to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils, and the governing body of such charter school may exercise the authority to adopt a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrate the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements to do fiscal hardship.
7. Requires, on or before September 1, 2018, a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high-poverty school in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision, which may include, but is not limited to, the Community Eligibility Provision or Provision 2.
8. Requires a school district or county superintendent of schools to begin providing a universal meal to all pupils at a very high poverty school upon state approval to operate a universal meal service and authorizes a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school.
9. Authorizes the governing board of a school district or county office of education to adopt a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of this measure due to fiscal hardship, specifies the resolution shall be publicly noticed on at least two consecutive meeting agendas, on the first meeting agenda as an information item and on the second meeting agenda as an action item; and requires the governing board of the school district or county office of education to reconsider the resolution at least once every four years.
10. Authorizes a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupil's eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty.
11. Makes Legislative findings and declarations that school meals are essential resources that prevent child hunger and support health and achievement and in California; and that almost all low-income children covered by public health insurance receive Medicaid which makes direct certification for school meals with Medicaid the most effective tool for identifying low-income pupils and increasing paperless certification for free and reduced-price school meals; and, specifies it is the intent of the Legislature to improve school districts' accuracy in identifying low-income pupils and to increase pupil access to school meals at the highest poverty schools.

EXISTING STATE LAW:

1. Requires CDE, in consultation with DHCS, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income and, to the extent permitted under federal law, directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program. (Education Code Section 49562)
2. Requires CDE to limit the information needed from DHCS to identify families whose income falls below the eligibility cutoff for free or reduced-price meals and the least amount of information needed to facilitate a match of local school records.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Potential Proposition 98/General Fund (GF) reimbursable mandate costs. The bill requires school districts and county offices of education to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at high poverty schools starting on September 1, 2018. According to the CDE, approximately 72 school sites could be impacted and could result in approximately $1.1 million in additional Proposition 98/GF state meal reimbursements. However, it is likely that all of these sites are eligible for full federal reimbursement for eligible meals which would offset a majority of the mandated costs. This assumes that the schools will elect to participate in a universal meal option or successfully apply for federal meal reimbursement. At the local level, school districts would see a reduction in students' unpaid meal charges due to the utilization of a universal meal provision resulting in additional cost savings and reduction in unpaid meals.
2. Ongoing cost of $130,000 (General Fund) to CDE to review and process Community Eligibility Provision applications, provide technical support, and train new staff. The bill's requirement for CDE to share Medi-Cal participation data with school districts and COE's should be minor or absorbable, as this information is available electronically through the existing California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.

COMMENTS: This bill requires CDE and the Department of Health Care Services to use Medi-Cal data to match students for eligibility for free and reduced priced meals. This bill also requires school districts and county offices of education with high poverty schools and charter schools (those that qualify for the federal Community Eligibility Provision), to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools, but allows for an opt-out due to fiscal hardship.

According to the author, "First, California faces significant challenges in enrolling eligible low-income students in school meal programs. The students who are most in need of school meals are often the ones most likely to fall through the paper-application cracks of the process. States like Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia surpass California in participation in these federally-funded opportunities. California has done a great job of achieving high enrollment levels through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 60% of California's kids are on Medi-Cal compared to only 24% on CalFresh, highlighting the importance of sharing Medi-Cal's valuable eligibility data. We want to make sure to use Medi-Cal data while the ACA is still fully intact and increase universal school meal participation as much as possible. Some states have already mandated universally free meals for students in very high poverty schools. Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico mandate universally free meals in very high poverty schools. Washington DC and West Virginia require universally free meals in ALL schools. California has the highest child poverty rate in the nation, with more children in poverty than any other state. There is a great need for state action here in California."

Analysis Prepared by: Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0001743

Date of Hearing: August 23, 2017

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 138

Author:(McGuire) – As Amended Ver:August 21, 2017

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to share Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) with local educational agencies (LEAs), to develop and implement a process to directly certify children whose families meet the income criteria into the school meal program. This bill also requires school districts, charters and county offices of education (COE’s) with a very high poverty school to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools. A school district, charter school or COE may pass a resolution and be exempt from this requirement due to fiscal hardship.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Potential Proposition 98/General Fund (GF) reimbursable mandate costs. The bill requires school districts and county offices of education to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at high poverty schools starting on September 1, 2018. According to the CDE, approximately 72 school sites could be impacted and could result in approximately $1.1 million in additional Proposition 98/GF state meal reimbursements. However, it is likely that all of these sites are eligible for full federal reimbursement for eligible meals which would offset a majority of the mandated costs. This assumes that the schools will elect to participate in a universal meal option or successfully apply for federal meal reimbursement. At the local level, school districts would see a reduction in students’ unpaid meal charges due to the utilization of a universal meal provision resulting in additional cost savings and reduction in unpaid meals.
   
2. Ongoing cost of $130,000 (General Fund) to CDE to review and process Community Eligibility Provision applications, provide technical support, and train new staff. The bill’s requirement for CDE to share Medi-Cal participation data with school districts and COE’s should be minor or absorbable, as this information is available electronically through the existing California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.
   

COMMENTS:

1. Federal Law. Existing federal law requires LEAs to directly certify for free meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as (CalFresh) in California. Federal law also authorizes LEAs to directly certify for free or reduced-price meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under CalFresh or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, known as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWorks) in California, or who are enrolled in Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California.

LEAs are authorized to operate a universal meal service option, when at least 40% of the students in either the district overall, a group of schools within the district, or an individual school are certified for free meals. LEAs receive meal reimbursement based on a formula that equate to 1.6 times the free reimbursement rate for students directly certified for free or reduced-price meals, plus the standard reimbursement rate for paid meals. An additional universal meal service option know as Provision 2, allows an LEA to certify children for free and reduced-price meals for up to 4 consecutive school years in the schools that serve meals at no charge to all enrolled children.

1. State Law. Existing state law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. The CDE, in consultation with DHCS must develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income and, to the extent permitted under federal law, directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program. In sharing data CDE and DHCS must maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients by establishing privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with all applicable state and federal laws.
   
2. Purpose. According to the author, "First, California faces significant challenges in enrolling eligible low-income students in school meal programs. The students who are most in need of school meals are often the ones most likely to fall through the paper-application cracks of the process. For example, it may be harder for small school districts to identify low-income students with limited staffing, or for districts with more immigrants to achieve full enrollment through paper applications or direct certification from CalFresh and CalWORKS alone. When direct certification is effective and accurately reflecting poverty in our schools, districts will be better positioned to draw down maximum levels federal funds and serve meals free of charge to all students …We want to make sure to use Medi-Cal data while the ACA is still fully intact and increase universal school meal participation."
   
3. Related Legislation. SB 250 (Hertzberg), in the Suspense File of this committee, requires LEAs to identify families with unpaid school meal fees equal to or greater than the value of five full-priced school lunches and, before collecting the unpaid fees, exhaust all options and methods to directly certify the pupil for free or reduced-price meals, and contact the parent or guardian with written and oral communications to encourage application submission.

AB 1502 (Thurmond), Chapter 91, Statues of 2017, requires CDE to conduct the data match of local school records to determine program eligibility for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.

SB 708 (Mendoza), Chapter 390, Statutes of 2015, authorizes school districts and county offices of education to make electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available, and requires both paper and electronic applications to contain clear instructions for families that are homeless or are migrants.

Analysis Prepared by: Daisy Gonzales / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: July 12, 2017

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Patrick O'Donnell, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 138

Author:(McGuire) – As Amended Ver:June 29, 2017

SENATE VOTE: 40-0

SUBJECT: School meal programs: free and reduced-price meals: universal meal service

SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services(DHCS), to develop and implement a process to use Medi-Cal data to directly certify children whose families meet the income criteria into the school meal program; requires school districts and county offices of education with high poverty schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools; and, authorizes a school district or county office of education to opt-out due to fiscal hardship. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires a local educational agency that participates in a federal school meal program to use Medi-Cal participation data, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 2017–18 school year, to directly certify pupils eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted under federal law.
2. Specifies the Medi-Cal participation data is exempt from the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act; specifies the Medi-Cal participation data shall be used only for the purposes of direct certification, shall not be open to the public for inspection, and shall not be disclosed to any other party without the written consent of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil, except for the purpose of directly certifying pupils for free and reduced-price meals or as otherwise required or authorized by law or state or federal court order; and, specifies this measure does not prohibit the disclosure of aggregate data that does not reveal personally identifying information about a pupil or his or her family.
3. Defines a “very high poverty school” as a school that enrolls pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and is eligible to receive the free federal reimbursement rate for all reimbursable school breakfasts and lunches served, pursuant to the Community Eligibility Provision.
4. Requires, in order to provide pupils in very high poverty schools with optimal nutrition for learning and to ensure that schools receive the maximum federal meal reimbursement, a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at a very high poverty school.
5. Requires, on or before September 1, 2018, a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a very high-poverty school in its jurisdiction to apply to operate a federal universal meal service provision, which may include, but is not limited to, the Community Eligibility Provision or Provision 2.
6. Requires a school district or county superintendent of schools to begin providing a universal meal to all pupils at a very high poverty school upon state approval to operate a universal meal service and authorizes a school district or county superintendent of schools to stop providing the universal meal service at a school if the school ceases to be a very high poverty school.
7. Authorizes the governing board of a school district or county office of education to adopt a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with, and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with, the requirements of this measure due to fiscal hardship, specifies the resolution shall be publicly noticed on at least two consecutive meeting agendas, on the first meeting agenda as an information item and on the second meeting agenda as an action item; and requires the governing board of the school district or county office of education to reconsider the resolution at least once every four years.
8. Authorizes a school district or county superintendent of schools to determine a pupil’s eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals based on data including the direct certification match and alternative measures of poverty.
9. Makes Legislative findings and declarations that school meals are essential resources that prevent child hunger and support health and achievement and in California; and that almost all low-income children covered by public health insurance receive Medicaid which makes direct certification for school meals with Medicaid the most effective tool for identifying low-income pupils and increasing paperless certification for free and reduced-price school meals; and, specifies it is the intent of the Legislature to improve school districts’ accuracy in identifying low-income pupils and to increase pupil access to school meals at the highest poverty schools.

EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:

1. Establishes the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which provides performance awards to States that best ensure that children who are members of households receiving benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are directly certified for free school meals.
2. Authorizes local educational agencies to directly certify for free or reduced-price meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under CalFresh or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, known as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWorks) in California, or who are enrolled in Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California.
3. Authorizes a universal meal service option known as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows a local educational agency that directly certifies for free meals at least 40% of the students in either the district overall, a group of schools within the district, or an individual school, to receive meal reimbursement based on a formula that equate to 1.6 times the free reimbursement rate for students directly certified for free or reduced-price meals, plus the standard reimbursement rate for paid meals.
4. Authorizes an additional universal meal service option know as Provision 2 that allows a local educational agency to certify children for free and reduced-price meals for up to 4 consecutive school years in the schools that serve meals at no charge to all enrolled children.

EXISTING STATE LAW:

1. Requires CDE, in consultation with DHCS, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income and, to the extent permitted under federal law, directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program. (Education Code 49562)
2. Requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. (Education Code 49550)
3. Requires CDE to limit the information needed from DHCS to identify families whose income falls below the eligibility cutoff for free or reduced-price meals and the least amount of information needed to facilitate a match of local school records.
4. Requires CDE and DHCS to design this process to maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients by establishing privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with all applicable state and federal laws.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill’s requirement for the CDE to share Medi-Cal participation data with school districts should be minor or absorbable, as this information can be accessed and electronically generated through the existing California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. There could be potential cost savings due to the reduced verification of paper lunch applications.

COMMENTS: This bill requires CDE and the Department of Health Care Services to use Medi-Cal data to match students for eligibility for free and reduced priced meals. This bill also requires school districts and county offices of education with high poverty schools (those that qualify for the federal Community Eligibility Provision), to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools, but allows for an opt-out due to fiscal hardship.

According to the author, "First, California faces significant challenges in enrolling eligible low-income students in school meal programs. The students who are most in need of school meals are often the ones most likely to fall through the paper-application cracks of the process. For example, it may be harder for small school districts to identify low-income students with limited staffing, or for districts with more immigrants to achieve full enrollment through paper applications or direct certification from CalFresh & CalWORKS alone. When direct certification is effective and accurately reflecting poverty in our schools, districts will be better positioned to draw down maximum levels federal funds and serve meals free of charge to all students. States like Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia surpass California in participation in these federally-funded opportunities. California has done a great job of achieving high enrollment levels through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 60% of California’s kids are on Medi-Cal compared to only 24% on CalFresh, highlighting the importance of sharing Medi-Cal’s valuable eligibility data. We want to make sure to use Medi-Cal data while the ACA is still fully intact and increase universal school meal participation as much as possible."

"Next, when direct certification is effective and accurately reflecting poverty in our schools, districts will be better positioned to draw down maximum levels of federal funds and serve meals free of charge to all students. In the great state of California, where we pride ourselves on progressive action to support our most vulnerable populations, we are falling short on serving free meals at children high-poverty schools- and leaving tens of millions of federal dollars on the table. Nationally, nearly 50% of eligible school districts take-up the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) – a powerful federal option that maximizes federal funding and enables schools to serve two free meals each school day to all students. Whereas traditionally conservative states like Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota, Alaska, and Louisiana see 75% or more of their districts drawing down federal funds and serving universally free meals through CEP, a measly 15% of California’s CEP-eligible districts have adopted the universally free model."

"Some states have already mandated universally free meals for students in very high poverty schools. Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico mandate universally free meals in very high poverty schools. Washington DC and West Virginia require universally free meals in ALL schools. California has the highest child poverty rate in the nation, with more children in poverty than any other state. There is a great need for state action here in California."

Expands Medi-Cal Direct Certification Pilot Program. Last year, California successfully implemented a 14-district pilot program to directly certify through Medi-Cal. According to the California Food Policy Advocates, as of April 2016, about one school-year into the 14-district pilot, 39,285 students who were previously slipping through the cracks were directly certified through Medi-Cal matching in the 14 districts. If Medicaid Direct Certification were picked up statewide, CDE estimates that more than 650,000 additional students would be directly certified for free lunches. These are students that are not captured in direct certification matches with CalFresh & CalWORKS. San Diego Unified School District has seen the following results:

• One year after the start of the Medi-Cal pilot, from April 2015 to April 2016, the Direct Certification percentage increased 13%, a total increase of 53%.
• As a result of increased direct certification, the need to verify individual household applications dropped by 30%.

Universal School Meals. This bill requires school districts and county offices of education with very high poverty schools, to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at those schools. A very high poverty school is defined to be a school whose identified student percentage, pursuant to the Community Eligibility Provision, is sufficient to result in federal reimbursement at the modified free reimbursement rate (1.6 times the free reimbursement rate) that is sufficient to reimburse all meals served to all students, regardless of a student’s free or reduced-price status, at the free reimbursement rate. The bill authorizes school district and county office governing boards to opt-out of providing universal meal service at high poverty schools if they adopt a resolution at a public board meeting demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply with the requirements due to a fiscal hardship.

Eligibility for Universal School Meals. According to the California Food Policy Advocates, "the different universal meal provisions have the same impact upon students, by making meals available to all at no charge, but the way they are administered is different.

Provision 2 is a long-standing option available to any school for providing breakfast, lunch, or both at no charge. Reimbursement is based on the percentage of meals served in each category (free, reduced-price, and full-price) at the time the school begins a four-year cycle. In the first year (the base year), a school determines how many of its students are eligible for free, reduced-price, and full-price meals. A school can use direct certification or household applications to determine students’ eligibility. From this count of students, the school calculates what percentage of the student population is eligible for free, reduced-price, and full-price meals. The percentages apply for the remainder of the four-year cycle.

Community Eligibility (CEP) CEP enables high-poverty schools to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge without collecting school meal applications. CEP is designed to benefit high-poverty schools. It relies upon enrollment through direct certification, which identifies students participating in means-tested programs like CalFresh and CalWORKS. CEP operates on a four year cycles, similar to Provision 2.

CEP uses a formula to determine the federal reimbursement for meals served to students: % of Identified Students x 1.6 = % of Meals Reimbursed at the “Free” (Highest) Rate

All other meals are reimbursed at the “paid” (lowest) rate of reimbursement.

For example, if 60% of students meet the “identified” criteria, 96% of meals will be reimbursed at the “free” (highest) rate of per-meal federal reimbursement (60% x 1.6 = 96%), with the remaining 4% of meals reimbursed at the lower “paid” rate."

Related Legislation: AB 1502 (Thurmond) from 2017, which is pending in the Senate Education Committee, would require the California Department of Education (CDE) to conduct the data match of local school records to determine program eligibility for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, as required by federal law.

Committee Amendment: To ensure that all California public school students are provided adequate nutrition, the bill should be amended to require very high poverty charter schools that are currently participating in the National School Lunch Program or the Federal School Breakfast Program to comply with this measure.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

A Better Course

Alameda County Community Food Bank

American Academy of Pediatrics, California

American Heart Association

American Stroke Association

California Action for Healthy Kids

California Alternative Payment Program Association

California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance

California Association of Food Banks

California Catholic Conference, Inc.

California Children's Hospital Association

California Food Policy Advocates

California School Employees Association

California School Nurses Organization

California School-Based Health Alliance

California State PTA

California Teachers Association

California WIC Association

Center for Ecoliteracy

Children's Defense Fund-California

Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano County

Food for People, Inc.

Health Officers Association of California

Hunger Action Los Angeles

Jewish Family Service of San Diego

Long Beach Alliance for Food and Fitness

National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter

Orange County Food Access Coalition

Service Employees International Union

San Francisco Food Security Task Force

SF-Marin Food Bank

United Ways of California

Western Center on Law & Poverty

Many Individuals

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: SB 138

Author:

Amended: 5/26/17

Vote:

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-0, 3/15/17

AYES: Allen, Wilk, Galgiani, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/25/17

AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Bradford, Hill, Nielsen, Wiener

SUBJECT: School meal programs: free and reduced-price meals

SOURCE: California Food Policy Advocates

DIGEST:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to share student Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) with local educational agencies, who would then be required to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals.

ANALYSIS:

Existing federal law:

1. Requires local educational agencies to directly certify for free meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as (CalFresh) in California. (Title 7 Code of Federal Regulations § 245.6(b)(1))
2. Requires direct certification via CalFresh to occur three times per school year: once at or around the beginning of the school year, three months after the initial effort, and six months after the initial effort. (7 CFR § 245.6(b))
3. Authorizes local educational agencies to directly certify for free or reduced-price meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under CalFresh or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, known as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWorks) in California, or who are enrolled in Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California. (7 CFR § 245.6(b)(2), § 245.6a(g))

Existing state law:

1. Requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. (Education Code § 49550)
2. Requires CDE, in consultation with DHCS, to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income and, to the extent permitted under federal law, directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program. (EC § 49562)
3. Requires CDE to limit the information needed from DHCS to identify families whose income falls below the eligibility cutoff for free or reduced-price meals, and the least amount of information needed to facilitate a match of local school records.
4. Requires CDE and DHCS to design this process to maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients by establishing privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with all applicable state and federal laws.

This bill:

1. Requires the CDE to share with school districts the Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the DHCS from the process developed by CDE, in consultation with DHCS, to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.
2. Requires a local educational agency that participates in a federal school meal program, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 2017-18 school year, to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted by federal law.
3. Specifies that the participation data shared in 1) above shall not be public records, shall not be open to the public for inspection, and shall not be disclosed to any other party without the written consent of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil, except for the purpose of directly certifying pupils for free or reduced-price meals.

Comments

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “California faces significant challenges in enrolling eligible low-income students in school meal programs. The students who are most in need of school meals are often the ones most likely to fall through the paper-application cracks of the process. For example, it may be harder for small school districts to identify low-income students with limited staffing, or for districts with more immigrants to achieve full enrollment through paper applications or direct certification from CalFresh & CalWORKS alone. Effective direct certification can be leveraged so that schools can use federal funds to serve meals free of charge to all students when enough low-income students are identified.”

This bill seeks to address these issues by reducing barriers to free and reduced-price enrollment while expanding food service to all students at eligible schools, while ensuring that federal reimbursement is maximized to its fullest extent.

1. Expands successful pilot program statewide. Last year, California successfully implemented a 14-district pilot program to directly certify through Medi-Cal. The pilot program resulted in an additional 60,000 enrollees in free and reduced-price meal programs, resulting in an additional $33 million in federal reimbursement. According to the author, CDE “estimates that a statewide program would benefit over 500,000 additional hungry students statewide.”
2. Timing. This bill will not take effect until January 1, 2018, but it requires local educational agencies to commence direct certification with Medi-Cal participation data during the 2017-18 school year. However, as required by federal law, local educational agencies are required to attempt direct certification under CalFresh at least three times per school, including one time six months after the beginning of the school year. This should enable local educational agencies to attempt direct certification under Medi-Cal at the same time they complete their final direct certification attempt under CalFresh.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 250 (Hertzberg, 2017) requires a local educational agency with a school that is required to serve a free or reduced-price meal during the school day and that is not eligible for a universal meal service plan to ensure that any student whose parent or guardian has unpaid school meal fees is not shamed or treated differently, or delayed or denied a nutritiously adequate meal, regardless of whether the student is eligible for free or reduced-price meals. SB 250 is pending on the Senate floor.

SB 708 (Mendoza, Chapter 390, Statutes of 2015) authorized school districts and county offices of education to make electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available, and required both paper and electronic applications to contain clear instructions for families that are homeless or are migrants.

AB 608 (Gordon, 2015) would have required county human services agencies to add additional information to the list of food providers to be made available to families applying for CalFresh benefits. The bill additionally would have required counties to inform applicants that, if the household is approved for CalFresh benefits, young children are income eligible for the California Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and that all children in the household are directly certified for free and reduced school meals. AB 608 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file.

AB 402 (Skinner, Chapter 504, Statutes of 2011) authorized school districts and county offices of education to share information provided on the School Lunch Program application with the local agency that determines CalFresh program eligibility, or to an agency that determines eligibility for nutrition assistance programs, and required each county to determine eligibility for CalFresh based on the information shared by a school district or county office of education and to enroll determined eligible pupils.

AB 2300 (Laird, Chapter 673, Statutes of 2008) required the CDE, in consultation with the DHCS, to develop and implement a process for using data from the Medi-Cal program to directly enroll children in the school meal programs.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill requirement for the CDE to share Medi-Cal participation data with school districts should be minor and absorbable, as this information can be accessed and electronically generated through the existing California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. There could be potential cost savings due to the reduced verification of paper lunch applications.

SUPPORT: (Verified 5/25/17)

California Food Policy Advocates (source)

California Action for Healthy Kids

California Alternative Payment Program Association

California Association of Food Banks

California Catholic Conference

Children’s Defense Fund California

Community Grains

Feeding San Diego

Food Access Coalition

Food for People, Inc.

Health Officers Association of California

Hunger Action Los Angeles

SF-Marin Food Bank

United Way of California

Western Center on Law & Poverty

OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/25/17)

None received

Prepared by:

5/27/17 17:44:43

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

SB 138 (McGuire) - School meal programs: free and reduced-price meals: universal free meal service

*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM – SUSPENSE FILE ***********

The following information is revised to reflect amendments

adopted by the committee on May 25, 2017

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to share student Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) with local educational agencies (LEAs) who would then be required to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals.

Fiscal Impact:

The bill’s requirement for the CDE to share Medi-Cal participation data with school districts should be minor or absorbable, as this information can be accessed and electronically generated through the existing California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. There could be potential cost savings due to the reduced verification of paper lunch applications.

Author Amendments:

Provide that the student participation data shall not be public records or open to the public for inspection, or disclosed to any other party without the written consent of the parents.

Committee Amendments:

Remove the requirement for a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a high-poverty school in its jurisdiction to apply, on or before September 1, 2018, to operate a universal meal provision.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

SB 138 (McGuire) - School meal programs: free and reduced-price meals: universal free meal service

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to share Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) with local educational agencies (LEAs) who would then be required to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals. This bill also requires an LEA to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at each of its “very high poverty schools.”

Fiscal Impact:

• Approximately $1.1 million in additional Proposition 98 General Fund for state meal reimbursements.
• $130,000 in General Fund and one consultant position for CDE state operations.

Background:

Existing federal law:

1. Requires local educational agencies to directly certify for free meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as (CalFresh) in California. (Title 7 Code of Federal Regulations § 245.6(b)(1))
2. Requires direct certification via CalFresh to occur three times per school year: once at or around the beginning of the school year, 3 months after the initial effort, and 6 months after the initial effort. (7 CFR § 245.6(b))
3. Authorizes local educational agencies to directly certify for free or reduced-price meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under CalFresh or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, known as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWorks) in California, or who are enrolled in Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California. (7 CFR § 245.6(b)(2), § 245.6a(g))
4. Authorizes a universal meal service option known as the CEP, which allows a local educational agency that directly certifies for free meals at least 40% of the students in either the district overall, a group of schools within the district, or an individual school, to receive meal reimbursement based on a formula that equate to 1.6 times the free reimbursement rate for students directly certified for free or reduced-price meals, plus the standard reimbursement rate for paid meals. (Title 42 United State States Code § 1759a(a)(1)(F); 7 CFR § 245.9(f))
5. Authorizes an additional universal meal service option know as Provision 2 that allows a local educational agency to certify children for free and reduced-price meals for up to 4 consecutive school years in the schools that serve meals at no charge to all enrolled children. (42 USC § 1759a(a)(1)(C); 7 CFR § 245.9(b))

Existing state law:

1. Requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. (Education Code § 49550)
2. Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), in consultation with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income and, to the extent permitted under federal law, directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program. (EC § 49562)
3. Requires CDE to limit the information needed from DHCS to identify families whose income falls below the eligibility cutoff for free or reduced-price meals, and the least amount of information needed to facilitate a match of local school records.
4. Requires CDE and DHCS to design this process to maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients by establishing privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with all applicable state and federal laws.

Proposed Law:

This bill requires CDE to share with school districts the Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the DHCS, requires a local educational agency (LEA) that participates in a federal school meal program to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals, and requires a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at each of its very high poverty schools. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the CDE to share with school districts the Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the DHCS from the process developed by CDE, in consultation with DHCS, to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.
2. Requires an LEA that participates in a federal school meal program, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 2017-18 school year, to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted by federal law.
3. Requires a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at each of its very high poverty schools for purposes of providing pupils in very high poverty schools with optimal nutrition for learning and ensuring that schools receive the maximum federal meal reimbursement.
4. Defines “very high poverty school” as a school that enrolls pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and is eligible to receive the free federal reimbursement rate for all reimbursable meal school breakfasts and lunches served pursuant to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
5. Requires a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a high-poverty school in its jurisdiction to apply, on or before September 1, 2018, to operate a universal meal provision, which may include, but is not limited to, the CEP or Provision 2, and upon state approval, requires a school district or county superintendent of schools to begin providing a universal meal service to all pupils at a very high poverty school.

Related Legislation:

SB 250 (Hertzberg, 2017) among other things, requires a local educational agency to identify families with unpaid school meal fees equal to or greater than the value of five full-priced school lunches and, before collecting the unpaid fees, to (1) exhaust all options and methods to directly certify the pupil for free or reduced-price meals, and (2) in a case where the local educational agency is not able to directly certify the pupil, provide the parent or guardian with an application and contact the parent or guardian with written and oral communications to encourage application submission.

Chapter 390, Statutes of 2015 (SB 708, Mendoza) authorized school districts and county offices of education to make electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available, and requires both paper and electronic applications to contain clear instructions for families that are homeless or are migrants.

Staff Comments:

• The bill’s requirement for school districts to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all students at high poverty schools could create a new state reimbursable mandate and affect approximately 72 school sites. However, it is likely that all of these sites are eligible for full federal reimbursement for eligible meals which would offset a majority of the mandated costs. This assumes that the schools will elect to participate in a universal meal option or apply for federal meal reimbursement. Based on data received from the California Department of Education, for meals that are not eligible for federal reimbursement, this bill would generate approximately $1.089 million in Proposition 98 General Fund for additional state meal reimbursements. At the local level, school districts may see a reduction in students’ unpaid meal charges due to the utilization of a universal meal provision resulting in cost savings.
• The California Department of Education indicates the cost to implement this bill would be $130,000 in annual General Fund and one consultant position to review and process Community Eligibility Provision applications, provide technical support, and train new staff.
• The bill’s requirement for the California Department of Education to share Medi-Cal participation data with school districts should be minor or absorbable, as this information can be accessed and electronically generated through the existing California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. There could also be cost savings due to the reduced verification of paper lunch applications.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Benjamin Allen, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: Hearing Date: March 15, 2017

Subject:

SUMMARY

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to share with school districts the Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the California Department of Health Care Services (CDHCS), requires a local educational agency that participates in a federal school meal program to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals, and requires a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at each of its very high poverty schools.

BACKGROUND

Existing federal law:

1. Requires local educational agencies to directly certify for free meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as (CalFresh) in California. (Title 7 Code of Federal Regulations § 245.6(b)(1))
2. Requires direct certification via CalFresh to occur three times per school year: once at or around the beginning of the school year, 3 months after the initial effort, and 6 months after the initial effort. (7 CFR § 245.6(b))
3. Authorizes local educational agencies to directly certify for free or reduced-price meals those children who are members of a household receiving assistance under CalFresh or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, known as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWorks) in California, or who are enrolled in Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California. (7 CFR § 245.6(b)(2), § 245.6a(g))
4. Authorizes a universal meal service option known as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows a local educational agency that directly certifies for free meals at least 40% of the students in either the district overall, a group of schools within the district, or an individual school, to receive meal reimbursement based on a formula that equate to 1.6 times the free reimbursement rate for students directly certified for free or reduced-price meals, plus the standard reimbursement rate for paid meals. (Title 42 United State States Code § 1759a(a)(1)(F); 7 CFR § 245.9(f))
5. Authorizes an additional universal meal service option know as Provision 2 that allows a local educational agency to certify children for free and reduced-price meals for up to 4 consecutive school years in the schools that serve meals at no charge to all enrolled children. (42 USC § 1759a(a)(1)(C); 7 CFR § 245.9(b))

Existing state law:

1. Requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each school day. (Education Code § 49550)
2. Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), in consultation with the California Department of Health Care Services (CDHCS), to develop and implement a process to use participation data from the Medi-Cal program to verify income and, to the extent permitted under federal law, directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program. (EC § 49562)
3. Requires CDE to limit the information needed from CDHCS to identify families whose income falls below the eligibility cutoff for free or reduced-price meals, and the least amount of information needed to facilitate a match of local school records.
4. Requires CDE and CDHCS to design this process to maintain pupil privacy and the privacy of Medi-Cal recipients by establishing privacy and confidentiality procedures consistent with all applicable state and federal laws.

ANALYSIS

This bill requires CDE to share with school districts the Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the CDHCS, requires a local educational agency that participates in a federal school meal program to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals, and requires a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at each of its very high poverty schools. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the CDE to share with school districts the Medi-Cal participation data it receives from the CDHCS from the process developed by CDE, in consultation with CDHCS, to directly certify children whose families meet the applicable income criteria into the school meal program.
2. Requires a local educational agency that participates in a federal school meal program, commencing with the participation data of pupils in the 2017-18 school year, to use that data to directly certify pupils for free and reduced-price school meals, to the extent permitted by federal law.
3. Requires a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at each of its very high poverty schools for purposes of providing pupils in very high poverty schools with optimal nutrition for learning and ensuring that schools receive the maximum federal meal reimbursement.
4. Defines “very high poverty school” as a school that enrolls pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and is eligible to receive the free federal reimbursement rate for all reimbursable meal school breakfasts and lunches served pursuant to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
5. Requires a school district or county superintendent of schools that has a high-poverty school in its jurisdiction to apply, on or before September 1, 2018, to operate a universal meal provision, which may include, but is not limited to, the CEP or Provision 2, and upon state approval, requires a school district or county superintendent of schools to begin providing a universal meal service to all pupils at a very high poverty school.

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “California faces significant challenges in enrolling eligible low-income students in school meal programs. The students who are most in need of school meals are often the ones most likely to fall through the paper-application cracks of the process. For example, it may be harder for small school districts to identify low-income students with limited staffing, or for districts with more immigrants to achieve full enrollment through paper applications or direct certification from CalFresh & CalWORKS alone. Effective direct certification can be leveraged so that schools can use federal funds to serve meals free of charge to all students when enough low-income students are identified.”

This bill addresses these issues by reducing barriers to free and reduced-price enrollment while expanding food service to all students at eligible schools, while ensuring that federal reimbursement is maximized to its fullest extent.

1. Expands successful pilot program statewide. Last year, California successfully implemented a 14-district pilot program to directly certify through Medi-Cal. The pilot program resulted in an additional 60,000 enrollees in free and reduced-price meal programs, resulting in an additional $33 million in federal reimbursement. According to the author, the California Department of Education (CDE) “estimates that a statewide program would benefit over 500,000 additional hungry students statewide.”
2. Maintains flexibility. While this bill requires a local educational agency to implement a universal meal program in each of its schools that is a very high poverty school, it also allows a local educational agency to choose which universal meal service provision it wants to provide. Moreover, for purposes of the bill, a very high poverty school is defined to be a school whose identified student percentage, pursuant to the CEP, is sufficient to result in federal reimbursement at the modified free reimbursement rate (1.6 times the free reimbursement rate) that is sufficient to reimburse all meals served to all students, regardless of a student’s free or reduced-price status, at the free reimbursement rate.
3. Timing. This bill will not take effect until January 1, 2018, but it requires local educational agencies to commence direct certification with Medi-Cal participation data during the 2017-18 school year. However, as required by federal law, local educational agencies are required to attempt direct certification under Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (CalFresh) at least three times per school, including one time six months after the beginning of the school year. This should enable local educational agencies to attempt direct certification under Medi-Cal at the same time they complete their final direct certification attempt under CalFresh. Under the bill, covered local educational agencies are not required to apply to implement a universal meal service until September 1, 2018. The committee may wish to consider whether the timeline allows for sufficient time to train local educational agency staff in conducting direct certification under Medi-Cal.
4. Prior and related legislation.

RELATED LEGISLATION

SB 250 (Hertzberg, 2017) among other things, requires a local educational agency to identify families with unpaid school meal fees equal to or greater than the value of five full-priced school lunches and, before collecting the unpaid fees, to (1) exhaust all options and methods to directly certify the pupil for free or reduced-price meals, and (2) in a case where the local educational agency is not able to directly certify the pupil, provide the parent or guardian with an application and contact the parent or guardian with written and oral communications to encourage application submission.

PRIOR LEGISLATION

SB 708 (Mendoza, Ch. 390, 2015) authorizes school districts and county offices of education to make electronic applications for free or reduced-price meals available, and requires both paper and electronic applications to contain clear instructions for families that are homeless or are migrants.

AB 608 (Gordon, 2015) requires county human services agencies to add additional information to the list of food providers to be made available to families applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (CalFresh) benefits. This bill additionally requires counties to inform applicants that, if the household is approved for CalFresh benefits, young children are income eligible for the California Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and that all children in the household are directly certified for free and reduced school meals. AB 608 also requires the Department of Social Services to inform all CalFresh households annually about the summer meal program, as specified. AB 608 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file.

AB 402 (Skinner, Ch. 504, 2011) authorizes school districts and county offices of education to share information provided on the School Lunch Program application with the local agency that determines Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (CalFresh) program eligibility, or to an agency that determines eligibility for nutrition assistance programs, and requires each county to determine eligibility for CalFresh based on the information shared by a school district or county office of education and to enroll determined eligible pupils.

AB 2300 (Laird, Ch. 673, 2008) requires the California Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Health Care Services, to develop and implement a process for using data from the Medi-Cal program to directly enroll children in the school meal programs.

SUPPORT

California Action for Healthy Kids

California Alternative Payment Program Association

California Association of Food Banks

California Catholic Conference

California Food Policy Advocates

Children’s Defense Fund California

Community Grains

Feeding San Diego

Food Access Coalition

Food for People, Inc.

Health Officers Association of California

Hunger Action Los Angeles

SF-Marin Food Bank

United Way of California

Western Center on Law & Poverty

OPPOSITION

None received.

-- END --