The Volunteer State is addressing childhood hunger this summer by opting into the new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program.
Tennessee's new summer EBT food program is expected to benefit 644,000 children, addressing food insecurity in the state, where one in eight children have faced hunger.
The initiative will allocate $77 million to provide food assistance to low-income students during the summer break. According to Signe Anderson, senior director of nutrition advocacy at the Tennessee Justice Center, eligible children, primarily those who receive free or reduced-price lunch at school, will receive $40 a month, totaling $120 in food benefits.
The state has until Feb. 15 to submit its plan to USDA, and Anderson stresses the importance of securing funds to cover administrative costs and overcome hurdles in identifying children not directly certified for school meals. "When school ends, they lose access to those school meals again. So, summer EBT is a great resource for families to have some extra money to support them over the summer and connect kids to meals again," Anderson explained.
He also noted that during the COVID public health emergency, families with children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals also received Pandemic EBT funds to help them cover food costs during school closings and summer vacations. This summer EBT program, powered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will become permanent starting this coming summer.
"So those children who are on SNAP, those children whose families are part of TennCare or TANF, they are all directly certified to receive school meals, but the other children, there will have to be a way for the state to identify how to connect them to summer EBT," she continued.
Anderson said she is grateful to the commissioners of the Department of Education and the Department of Human Services and Governor Bill Lee for opting into the Summer EBT program. She added that, earlier this year, nearly 500 people signed a petition and sent letters to Tennessee officials recommending that they adopt the Summer EBT program.