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Endorse “Care for Kids Act of 2019”
The “Caregivers Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2019” (S. 2760) would help support children who are being raised by grandparents or relatives other than their parents by ensuring automatic access to free school meals.
See FRAC's fact sheet: Support the CARE for Kids Act of 2019.
The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 expanded automatic eligibility for free school meals to include children in foster care. However, many children impacted by the growing opioid epidemic do not formally enter foster care and instead are placed in the care of grandparents or other relatives. These kinship care arrangements are often the preferred and less traumatic route for children who cannot remain with their parents.
Under current law, these children are not automatically eligible for free school meals, limiting their access to nutritious meals that are linked to improved academic achievement and health. The CARE for Kids Act of 2019 will close this unintentional gap in benefits and ensure the many children in kinship care have automatic access to healthy school meals at no cost.
By enacting the provisions of the CARE for Kids Act of 2019 in the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization, Congress can ensure that the rising number of children who are placed with grandparents and other family members due to the opioid epidemic are automatically eligible for free school meals.
For more information, contact Alison Maurice at amaurice@frac.org.
The Senate bill was introduced by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA).
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