The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 was approved by the House on Friday, December 23 by a vote of 225 to 201. It includes $40 million for the establishment of a pandemic-era summer EBT (P-EBT) program for qualified schoolchildren.
SNAP Benefits For Children
When school is not in session during the summer, the P-EBT program offers the following to eligible children:
- Benefits for younger children living in SNAP-eligible households if a covered childcare facility is closed, operating with fewer hours or enrollees, or who reside adjacent to a school that is closed, operating with fewer hours or enrollees.
- In states with an approved SY 2021–22 plan for school children and/or children in child care, P-EBT is available to all students who were eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals during the current school year as well as to students who are newly determined to be eligible for meal benefits during the summer.
- All children under the age of six who are enrolled in SNAP during the summer are eligible for P-EBT.
- Up to $40 per child each month in temporary emergency nutrition benefits loaded on EBT cards that are used to buy food.
- Rural locations can choose from grab-and-go or delivery choices for summer meals.
- Meals for up to ten days can be taken home rather than having to consume them all at meal places.
- P-EBT benefits are available to kids who would have qualified for free or reduced-cost meals under the National School Lunch Act had their schools not been closed for at least five consecutive days, operating with fewer students, or operating with reduced hours.
Read more: SNAP Benefits 2023: Who’s receiving additional $95 payments next year?
Summer EBT Program
The announcement that the summer EBT benefits from the pandemic era to be made permanent should greatly relieve millions of families.
The initiative has had great success in reducing food insecurity. After pandemic alleviation measures were implemented in late 2020 and early 2021, food difficulty sharply decreased; however, it has recently begun to rise, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
Early May 2022 saw an increase of 4.1 million from early August 2021 in the number of people in families with children who reported that their households had enough food the previous week.
Read more: SNAP benefits: Here’s a good news for those who have stolen payments!
