Nearly 21 million children in the U.S. and its territories are expected to receive food benefits this summer through a new permanent federal program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday.
Thirty-five states, all five U.S. territories and four tribes have signed up for the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, or Summer EBT, which the administration says is intended to supplement existing summer programs that had more limited reach.
“No child in this country should go hungry,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They certainly shouldn’t go hungry because they lose access to nutritious school meals during the summer months.”
In December 2022, Congress made Summer EBT permanent starting in 2024, after the USDA tested it for several years. States that chose not to sign up this summer will have a chance to join before summer 2025, the USDA said.
Families with children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches (i.e., families who are at or below 185% of the federal poverty level) are eligible for the Summer EBT, which covers approximately 70% of the eligible population in his country. first year.
In an October report, the USDA said an estimated 17 million U.S. households reported difficulty finding enough food in 2022. That was up from 13.5 million in 2021, when there was more federal food assistance during the pandemic.
Eligible families will receive $40 per month per child during the summer – a total of $120 per child. The funds are loaded onto an EBT card, which can be used at stores that also take advantage of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
The USDA estimates it will provide a total of $2.5 billion in grocery benefits through the Summer EBT program by 2024.
The Cherokee Nation is one of four tribes that will be part of the first summer. Cherokee National Chief Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said it was an easy decision.
“I think we’re seeing a lot of pressure on households in terms of rent or other housing costs, and all of that is hitting very tight household budgets,” he said, adding: “… This puts a dent in that overall problem by giving parents more power to give. to just be able to go out and buy more food and some of the healthy options that are available.
The Cherokee Nation is headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma – a state that has opted out of Summer EBT. Hoskin said he expects more applications from non-tribal citizens living on the reservation.
Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming chose not to participate this summer.
Nebraska, Iowa and Oklahoma cited existing programs that already feed children during the summer as reasons for not participating in Summer EBT.
Implementing a summer EBT program this year was “not feasible” in Texas, Health and Human Services Commission spokesman Thomas Vasquez said in a statement to the AP. He said this was due to the USDA guidelines that came in late December, “the amount of effort required” to start a new program and the need for the state legislature to approve money for it.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said in a statement that he does not want “a single Oklahoma child to go hungry, and I will continue to work to achieve that, but large, duplicative federal programs do not achieve that goal.
“They create more red tape for families to wade through.”
All fifty states already administer the Summer Food Service Program, which provides locations where children can eat for free. Vilsack said he was concerned that it “doesn’t provide the help for all children, no matter how well-intentioned.”
“I don’t understand why 50 governors aren’t doing it (summer EBT),” he said, “but we’re glad 35 are, we’re glad there are territories and we’re glad the tribes continue to work with us. ”
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