ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR RESIDENTS OF CERTAIN GROUP FACILITIES.

SEC. 4112. ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR RESIDENTS OF CERTAIN GROUP FACILITIES. (a) In General.—Section 8 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2017) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(f) Alternative Procedures for Residents of Certain Group Facilities.— “(1) In general.— “(A) Applicability.— “(i) In general.—Subject to clause (ii), at the option of the State agency, allotments for residents of any facility described in subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 3(i)(5) (referred to in this subsection as a ‘covered facility’) m iy be determined and issued under this paragraph in lieu of subsection (a). “(ii) Limitation.—Unless the Secretary authorizes implementation of this paragraph in all States under paragraph (3), clause (i) shall apply only to residents of covered facilities participating in a pilot project under paragraph (2).116 STAT. 311 “(B) Amount of allotment.—The allotment for each eligible resident described in subparagraph (A) shall be calculated in accordance with standardized procedures established by the Secretary that take into account the allotments typically received by residents of covered facilities. “(C) Issuance of allotment.— “(i) In general.—The State agency shall issue an allotment determined under this paragraph to a covered facility as the authorized representative of the residents of the covered facility. “(ii) Adjustment.—The Secretary shall establish procedures to ensure that a covered facility does not receive a greater proportion of a resident's monthly allotment than the proportion of the month during which the resident lived in the covered facility. “(D) Departures of residents of covered facilities.— “(i) Notification.—Any covered facility that receives an allotment for a resident under this paragraph shall— “(I) notify the State agency promptly on the departure of the resident; and “(II) notify the resident, before the departure of the resident, that the resident— “(aa) is eligible for continued benefits under the food stamp program; and “(bb) should contact the State agency concerning continuation of the benefits. “(ii) Issuance to departed residents.—On receiving a notification under clause (i)(I) concerning the departure of a resident, the State agency— “(I) shall promptly issue the departed resident an allotment for the days of the month after the departure of the resident (calculated in a manner prescribed by the Secretary) unless the departed resident reapplies to participate in the food stamp program; and “(II) may issue an allotment for the month following the month of the departure (but not any subsequent month) based on this paragraph unless the departed resident reapplies to participate in the food stamp program. “(iii) State option.—The State agency may elect not to issue an allotment under clause (ii)(I) if the State agency lacks sufficient information on the location of the departed resident to provide the allotment. “(iv) Effect of reapplication.—If the departed resident reapplies to participate in the food stamp program, the allotment of the departed resident shall be determined without regard to this paragraph. “(2) Pilot projects.— “(A) In general.—Before the Secretary authorizes implementation of paragraph (1) in all States, the Secretary shall carry out, at the request of 1 or more State agencies and in 1 or more areas of the United States, such number of pilot projects as the Secretary determines to be sufficient 116 STAT. 312 to test the feasibility of determining and issuing allotments to residents of covered facilities under paragraph (1) in lieu of subsection (a). “(B) Project plan.—To be eligible to participate in a pilot project under subparagraph (A), a State agency shall submit to the Secretary for approval a project plan that includes— “(i) a specification of the covered facilities in the State that will participate in the pilot project; “(ii) a schedule for reports to be submitted to the Secretary on the pilot project; “(iii) procedures for standardizing allotment amounts that takes into account the allotments typically received by residents of covered facilities; and “(iv) a commitment to carry out the pilot project in compliance with the requirements of this subsection other than paragraph (1)(B). “(3) Authorization of implementation in all states.— “(A) In general.—The Secretary shall— “(i) determine whether to authorize implementation of paragraph (1) in all States; and “(ii) notify the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate of the determination. “(B) Determination not to authorize implementation in all states.— “(i) In general.—If the Secretary makes a finding described in clause (ii), the Secretary— “(I) shall not authorize implementation of paragraph (1) in all States; and “(II) shall terminate all pilot projects under paragraph (2) within a reasonable period of time (as determined by the Secretary). “(ii) Finding.—The finding referred to in clause (i) is that— “(I) an insufficient number of project plans that the Secretary determines to be eligible for approval are submitted by State agencies under paragraph (2)(B); or “(II) (aa) a sufficient number of pilot projects have been carried out under paragraph (2)(A); and “(bb) authorization of implementation of paragraph (1) in all States is not in the best interest of the food stamp program.”. (b) Conforming Amendments.— (1) Section 3(i) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2012(i>) is amended— (A) by striking “(i) “Household’ means (1) an” and inserting the following: “(i) (1)‘Household’ means— “(A) an”; (B) in the first sentence, by striking “others, or (2) a group” and inserting the following: “others; or “(B) a group”; (C) in the second sentence, by striking “Spouses” and inserting the following:116 STAT. 313 “(2) Spouses”; (D) in the third sentence, by striking “Notwithstanding” and inserting the following: “(3) Notwithstanding”; (E) in paragraph (3) (as designated by subparagraph (D)), by striking “the preceding sentences” and inserting “paragraphs (1) and (2)”; (F) in the fourth sentence, by striking “In no event” and inserting the following: “(4) In no event”; (G) in the fifth sentence, by striking “For the purposes of this subsection, residents” and inserting the following: “(5) For the purposes of this subsection, the following persons shall not be considered to be residents of institutions and shall be considered to be individual households: “(A) Residents”; and (H) in paragraph (5) (as designated by subparagraph (G))— (i)by striking “Act, or are individuals” and inserting the following: “Act. “(B) Individuals”; (ii)by striking “such section, temporary” and inserting the following: “that section. “(C) Temporary”; (iii)by striking “children, residents” and inserting the following: “children. “(D) Residents”; (iv)by striking “coupons, and narcotics” and inserting the following: “coupons. “(E) Narcotics”; and (v)by striking “shall not” and all that follows and inserting a period. (2) Section 5(a) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2014(a)) is amended by striking “the third sentence of section 3(i)” each place it appears and inserting “section 3(i)(4)”. (3) Section 8(e)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2017(e)(1)) is amended by striking “the last sentence of section 3(i)” and inserting “section 3(i)(5)”. (4) Section 17(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2026(b)(1)(B)(iv)(III)(aa)) is amended by striking “the last 2 sentences of section 3(i)” and inserting “paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 3(i)”.