The USDA offers a program in schools for children attending from low income families. The food stamps program provides free or reduced meals.
These are called child nutritional programs are make sure kids are getting fully nutritious meals and snacks at breakfast and lunch time.
$21.7 billion dollars were spent by the USDA for food and nutrition programs during 2019.
Children being stuck at home during the pandemic made the cost drop drastically because they weren’t in school to eat.
Extra SNAP benefits for February 2022
There are three food stamps programs offered to ensure children eat during the day
- The National School Lunch Program
- The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer
- The Child and Adult Care Food Program
Each program focuses on different groups of people and ages but they all have the same eligibility requirements.
P-EBT benefits available to millions
What is the national school lunch and breakfast program?
The program serves meals to children in over 100,000 schools across the country.
Over 70% of the lunches given through the program were for free or at reduced cost.
The breakfasts are offered at 90,000 schools to 14.9 million children, with 90% being free or reduced.
P-EBT food stamps
Some states gave parents a P-EBT card, which is different from the typical EBT food stamp card.
The money on the card was to make up for the free and reduced lunches kids did not get for whatever amount of time they missed school.
Most states have sent the funds out but North Carolina is still sending them.
SNAP benefits after storms and disasters
Child and adult care food program
This program is similar to the school lunch program, but in a different setting.
In this case the meals and snacks are given to children in daycares, child care centers, emergency shelters, and after school programs.
Older or impaired adults are given meals and snacks in adult day care centers.
4.7 million children received food through this program in 2019, compared to the 130,000 adults.
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