42 U.S.C. § 1758a — State performance on enrolling children receiving program benefits for free school meals

(a) In general. By December 31, 2008, and by June 30 of every year after that, the Secretary must report to the specified House and Senate committees on how effectively each State enrolls school-aged children in households receiving benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (called “program benefits” in this section) in free school meals through direct certification. (b) Specific measures. The Secretary’s assessment of each State must include: (1) An estimate, for each State, of the number of school-aged children who belonged to a household receiving program benefits at any time in July, August, or September of the previous year. (2) An estimate, for each State, of the number of school-aged children who, as of October 1 of the previous year, were directly certified as eligible for free lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act because their households received program benefits. (3) An estimate, for each State, of the number of school-aged children who belonged to a household receiving program benefits in July, August, or September of the previous year but were not candidates for direct certification because, on October 1 of the previous year, they attended a school operating under the special-assistance provisions of section 11(a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and that school was not operating in a base year. (c) Performance innovations. The Secretary’s report must describe best practices from States that had the best performance or the most improved performance compared with the previous year.