Money is still being paid to families with low incomes to reimburse them for the expense of school meals during the pandemic; however, some may be unaware of it.
The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability aid, which assists qualified families in receiving various forms of aid, is still releasing Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer food benefits for the school year 2021-22, summer 2022, and summer 2023. P-EBT and EBT cards are being loaded with federal monies.
P-EBT Subsidies Help Low-Income Families with Meals
The P-EBT subsidies were made available to assist low-income families in paying for meals on days when their children would have been at school but were instead at home due to the pandemic.
Except for children under the age of six who receive SNAP assistance, no additional P-EBT funding will be granted for the 2022-23 school year.
P-EBT funds are loaded into EBT cards of children who receive SNAP benefits or public assistance. Households that do not qualify for such help receive monies through P-EBT Food Benefits cards.
Applications filed through OTDA’s P-EBT application portal for 2021-22 benefits have been processed and each of the benefits will be paid by December 29.
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State Budget Allocates $134M for Free School Lunches
School food funding has been a contentious topic among New York educators, who have advocated for universal free school lunches for all New York kids.
Gov. Kathy Hochul stated in May that the state budget would include $134 million for free school lunches for all children in low-income schools, both public and private. The cash is meant to encourage participation in the federal Community Eligibility Provision program as well as to cover expenditures that restarted after government aid for free school meals for all pupils expired during the pandemic.
For the first time, the cash will enable 550 more schools in 160 districts to provide free meals to pupils.
A proposed reform to the Community Eligibility Provision program would make free meals more accessible. As it stands, CEP allows schools to provide free lunches to all kids if 40% of their students qualify. This percentage would be reduced to 25% under the proposed adjustment.
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