Erase Lunch Balance?
I know that students coded as homeless immediately receive free school meals. However, I am running into the issue of not knowing that someone is homeless until a few days/months after the fact. When I complete the transition referral form, I put the date that I complete the paperwork, as well as the date their homelessness began, which on occasion do not match.
Regarding the lunch balance, are we supposed to erase the lunch balance that has accrued from the date they became homeless, or the date we (the school) became aware of their living situation?
Important
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Hi, Karlee,
Great question! I pulled this from our Legal Citation Tab (searched “unpaid fees”). The bolded section highlights the recommendation to your question:
The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 made any child or youth identified as homeless by a McKinney-Vento liaison or shelter director automatically eligible for free school meals. They do not have to complete an application. When a liaison or a shelter director provides a child’s name to the local school food service office, free school meals should commence immediately. 31 States also may have established policies to support this federal law. Children identified as homeless by a McKinney-Vento liaison or shelter director are entitled to receive those meals immediately, regardless of unpaid fees. Unpaid fees may be waived or paid from other funds, but they cannot delay or prevent the student’s access to free meals. To the extent unpaid fees constitute a barrier to the enrollment of homeless children and youth (including attending classes and participating fully in school activities), states and LEAs have an ongoing obligation to review and revise their policies to remove such barrier [42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(1)(I)].
Also, linking this brief from NCHE (https://nche.ed.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Access-to-Food.pdf) as it provides guidance (see page 6) I am also cutting and pasting the response to their example similar to your question here:
Regardless of past fees, every student identified as homeless is categorically eligible for free meals from the date on which the local liaison or shelter director documents the student’s homelessness. There can be no delay in providing free meals to students who meet the relevant eligibility criteria due to unpaid fees. As mentioned, it is the school district’s responsibility to identify all children and youth experiencing homelessness. Therefore, if a student was homeless but not identified, the school district should not hold the student or family responsible for the fees accrued during that time. There are several common practices school districts have used to handle these fees, including waiving the fees and absorbing the cost, or paying the fees from funds such as donations from PTOs or PTAs.
Please let us know if you have further questions. 🙂