BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 402
A
AUTHOR: Skinner
B
VERSION: As Proposed To Be Amended
HEARING DATE: June 28, 2011
FISCAL: To the floor
4
Consultant:
0
Wu
2
SUBJECT
CalFresh program: School Lunch Program: information
SUMMARY
Authorizes 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. 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.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1. Requires each school district or county superintendent
of schools, maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades
1-12 inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one
nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during
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each school day.
2. Requires the governing board of a school district and
the county superintendent of schools to make applications
for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils.
3. Defines "needy children" as those children who meet
federal eligibility criteria for free and reduced price
meals, except for family day care homes which shall be
reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals.
4. Encourages each school district and county
superintendent of schools to include information in the
meal application that parents may use to request
information concerning the Medi-Cal program and the Healthy
Families Program. Specifies that at the option of the
school district and county superintendent, the application
may contain the following:
a. A notification that if a child qualifies for
free school lunches, then the child may qualify for
free or reduced-cost health coverage.
b. A request for consent to allow information in
the School Lunch Program application to be shared with
the entity that makes eligibility determination for
the Medi-Cal program.
c. A notification that the information in the
school lunch application is confidential and, with the
exception of sharing the information with the agency
that determines Medi-Cal eligibility, will not be
shared with any governmental agency, including the
federal Department of Homeland Security and the Social
Security Administration.
d. Information regarding the Medi-Cal Program.
This bill:
1. Authorizes a school district or county office of
education to implement a process to share information
provided on the School Lunch Program application with the
local agency that determines CalFresh program eligibility.
2. Requires each county to determine CalFresh program
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eligibility for children from information provided on a
School Lunch Program application
3. Requires the county to enroll an eligible child in the
CalFresh program upon receipt of a signed CalFresh program
application.
4. Requires the following information be incorporated into
the School Lunch Program application, at the option of the
district or to the extent necessary to implement the
CalFresh program: pupil eligibility; parental consent
regarding forwarding any eligibility information to the
agency that administers the CalFresh program; information
about the CalFresh program; notification that the School
Lunch Program application information is confidential
(unless authorized by the parent); and, notification that
the School Lunch Program information will only be used by
CalFresh state and local agencies, as specified.
5. Requires the county to contact the parent or guardian of
a child to seek additional information regarding
eligibility, if the county is unable to determine
eligibility in the CalFresh program from the School Lunch
Program application. Extra information attained must also
be used to determine retention of eligibility.
6. Requires the county to notify the parent or guardian of
a child whom the county determines does not meet the
eligibility requirements for participation.
7. Requires the county to deny or discontinue CalFresh
program benefits if the parent or guardian does not provide
all required information.
8. Directs the county to treat, as an application for the
CalFresh program, a School Lunch Program application
regarding a pupil who is not already enrolled in the
CalFresh program.
Amendments offered in committee
This analysis reflects amendments the author will offer at the
hearing. These amendments do the following:
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Ensures that the School Lunch Program application and
all school lunch records remain confidential, and its
information will not be shared with any governmental agency
other than the CalFresh program office.
Requires that the information collected be destroyed
when it is no longer needed for its intended purpose.
Provides that information on the School Lunch Program
application can be shared with an agency that determines
eligibility under the Medi-Cal program or that determines
eligibility for nutrition assistance programs; any sharing
of information is done only if the approved applicant
consents to this sharing of information.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, there is
cost pressure for a one-time General Fund expenditure, likely
between $250,000 and $500,000, for school districts and county
offices of education to revise the School Lunch Program
application. Note: the 2010 Budget Act allocated approximately
$1.29 billion for the school lunches; approximately $1.2 billion
is federal funding and $93.8 million is from the General Fund.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Author's statement:
The author states that federal programs such as CalFresh provide
a safety net to help ensure that low-income children get
adequate nutrition. Although 3.4 million children are now
eligible for school meal programs, a large number of these
children and their families are not participating in CalFresh.
CalFresh
CalFresh is a food and nutrition program for low-income
individuals funded through the US Department of Agriculture.
Similar to the School Breakfast Program and the School Lunch
Program, CalFresh is an entitlement program (it was called the
food stamp program). CalFresh is available to individuals with
maximum gross income of 130 percent of the federal poverty level
($28,665 for a family of four) and a net income of 100 percent
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of federal poverty guidelines and who meet one of the following:
1. The applicant has lived in the country for five years;
2. The applicant is receiving disability-related benefits,
regardless of how long she or he has lived in the country;
or
3. The applicant is a child under 18 years of age
regardless of how long she or he has lived in the country.
Each individual or household's benefit level depends on income.
According to the California Department of Social Services, the
average CalFresh benefit per household each month is $200. The
benefit is deposited into an account that can be accessed
through use of a debit card, used to purchase food (or seeds and
plants to grow food) from grocery stores, convenience stores,
and participating farmers' markets. Children can be eligible
for benefits even if their parents are ineligible. Over two
million Californians receive CalFresh benefits. According to
the California Food Policy Advocates, there are an estimated
three million eligible individuals who are not receiving
CalFresh benefits.
A similar approach in Maryland
Montgomery County, Maryland reports that a similar data-sharing
program resulted in more than 20,000 children - who were in the
school lunch program - enrolling in that state's supplementary
nutrition assistance program.
Confidentiality and information sharing
This bill requires - under the Federal Educational Rights and
Privacy Act that prohibits release of pupil information without
the consent of pupils, or their parents or legal guardians if
the pupils are under age 18 - parental consent prior to the
sharing of any information about pupils enrolled in the free or
reduced price meal program.
The bill directs the local agency that determines CalFresh
program eligibility to use information provided on a School
Lunch Program application solely for the purpose of enrollment
of children or families in the CalFresh program.
Related legislation
AB 839 (Brownley): pending in the Assembly Education Committee,
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requires each school district or county superintendent of
schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12
to submit specified reports and governing board resolutions to
the California Department of Education regarding access and
participation in the federal SBP.
Previous votes
Senate Education: 8-1
Assembly Floor: 51-24
Assembly Appropriations: 12-5
Assembly Education: 7-2
COMMENTS
The bill allows several means of information-sharing between
CalFresh and the School Lunch Program. "Information may be
shared electronically, physically or through whatever method is
determined appropriate." It may be to the bill's benefit to
direct counties to determine the most cost-effective means of
information-sharing and to utilize that method.
POSITIONS
Support: County Welfare Directors Association of
California (sponsor)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (sponsor)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Butte County Department of Employment and Social
Services
California Association of Food Banks
California Food Policy Advocates
California Hunger Action Coalition
California School Employees Association
California State Association of Counties
California State PTA
City and County of San Francisco
Coalition of California Welfare Rights
Organizations
County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
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Humboldt County Department of Health and Human
Services
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Jericho
Laborers' Local 777
Laborers' Local 792
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
National Association of Social Workers,
California Chapter
Oakland Unified School District, Nutrition
Services
Riverside County Department of Public Social
Services
Santa Barbara County Department of Social
Services
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Oppose: None received
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