Notices from USDA and HHS about Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PWORA); Interpretation of "Federal Public Benefit"
- Samantha Marshall
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Earlier in July, several federal agencies released notices regarding the interpretation of a "Federal Public Benefit" according to existing law in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PWORA).
Department of Education
Department of Labor; and
Department of Justice
These notices are meant to cause fear and limit participation in public benefit programs by individuals who are not citizens of the United States "or a qualified alien." These notices have caused concern and confusion within the CACFP community. In particular, the Health and Human Services notice, which directly impacts Head Start programs, and the USDA notice, which mentions CACFP. There is a difference between what the two notices require.
What is the PWORA?
In 1996, Congress passed the PWORA, which defined a public benefit and individuals who were allowed access to it, and individuals who were not allowed access to the public benefit. In particular, it limits access to public benefits to individuals who are not citizens of the United States or qualified aliens. (Side Note: It is also the law that changed eligibility for reimbursement for family child care providers through establishing the tiering process.)
The Health and Human Services Notice
The Health and Human Services notice redesignated Head Start and Early Head Start as a public benefit. Interpretation guidance was provided in 1998, specifically excluding Head Start and Early Head Start from being categorized as a public benefit - this current notice is a large shift in policy interpretation and implementation, which would limit access to individuals who are not citizens or qualified aliens. There is a 30-day comment period for this notice; national organizations such as NHSA are drafting model comment letters to come soon. Start Early, with other partners, hosted an informational webinar explaining all of the nuances, answering questions, and sharing next steps for the Head Start community, and you can find that here. The recommendations here are to wait for guidance from the Office of Head Start prior to changing any policies and procedures.
USDA Notice
Unlike the Health and Human Services notice, interpretation of a public benefit as it relates to child nutrition programs did not change. It does, however, bring to light that states do have authority over eligibility for program access for CACFP, WIC, and many other child nutrition programs. States cannot deny access to meals through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. For the other federal nutrition programs the law states: “(1) In general Nothing in this Act shall prohibit or require a State to provide to an individual who is not a citizen or a qualified alien, as defined in section 1641(b) of this title, benefits under programs established under the provisions of law described in paragraph (2).” Basically, it says that states could choose to limit access to the program, but it's important to note that this is not a change in interpretation or law; it has always been this way. We will keep an eye on if/how states may change policy in regard to this notice.
Since there is no interpretation or policy change, there is nothing for the CACFP community to do at this moment other than support each other as our community navigates these policy interpretations. CACFP Roundtable continues to work with our national partners to ensure we protect the program, participants, and operators.
Please stay in touch and share your stories about how this is impacting your community, samantha@cacfproundtable.org.
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