Biden administration expands food program to cover children during summer break

The Biden administration announced this week that the COVID-19 stimulus bill will pay for an expanded nutrition assistance program that will provide more than 30 million children with food this summer.

Through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), children of low-income families will be offered Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) benefits for the 10-week summer break.

“It is the largest child nutrition effort in our nation's history and will reach more than 30 million kids this summer, thanks to the American Rescue Plan,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing. “Summer feeding programs are considered a lifeline for some families, but until now, they have reached less than 20% of families served during the school year.”

P-EBT was established in March 2020 to provide money to families for food while schools are closed during the pandemic. The passage of the American Rescue Plan Act ensured the benefits are available for the duration of the pandemic, including during the summer months.

All children who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school lunches are eligible to receive P-EBT benefits, as well as children aged 6 years or younger who live in a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program household. Families of children will receive an EBT card, which will include about $6.82 per child per weekday, or about $375 per child over the summer.

“That is about 34 million American children [who are eligible],” Psaki said. “Parents or guardians do not need to take any action to receive the cards in the mail from their state agencies.”

According to the USDA, there are about 29 million adults and 12 million children who have not had enough to eat throughout the pandemic. More than one in five Black and Latino adults lives in food insecure households, compared with one in nine adults overall.

Research from the Brookings Institute showed that P-EBT has an impact on food insecurity because food hardship among low-income children decreases by 30% in the week following benefits being issued, USADA said.

“By providing low-income families with a simple benefit over the summer months, USDA is using an evidenced-based solution to drive down hunger and ensure no child has to miss a meal,” Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, said in a statement.