Cybersecdn- Kids in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana will be able to get free food this summer thanks to a new government program. Children who don’t have enough food during the summer, when school is out, will be helped by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program. The three states are among 35 states, five U.S. territories, and four Tribes that have agreed to take part. Other states have turned down the federal offer of food aid.
The food and nutrition service run by the federal government is like the COVID-19 pandemic program that helped qualified families when schools were closed during the crisis.
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The benefits for Ohio will be about $100 million, helping between 800,000 and 850,000 kids, according to Bill Teets, who is in charge of communications for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The program is run in Ohio by both the department and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. This would be worth $120 for each child over the summer.
All fifty states run the Summer Food Program, which gives meals at certain locations. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that summer meal sites have historically reached only 1 in 6 kids who are qualified for free or low-cost meals during the school year. The USDA says the new summer program can help make up for that.
