CARE for Kids Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 4451 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4451 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 16, 2025 Mrs. Hayes (for herself, Mr. Bacon, and Ms. Ross) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to enhance direct certification under the school lunch program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Caregivers, Access, and Responsible Expansion for Kids Act of 2025'' or the ``CARE for Kids Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. ENHANCING DIRECT CERTIFICATION. Section 9(b)(5) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(5)) is amended-- (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(including any school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education)'' before ``may certify''; and (2) in subparagraph (E)-- (A) in clause (i), by striking ``or'' at the end; (B) in clause (ii)-- (i) by striking ``who'' and inserting ``whom''; and (ii) by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and (C) by adding at the end the following: ``(iii) a child whose placement with a caregiver was carried out with the involvement of an agency that administers a State plan under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or a tribal child welfare agency, without regard to whether the agency is responsible for the care and placement of the child; ``(iv) a child for whom an adoption assistance payment is made under section 473(