Texas approved to give more aid to families missing free or reduced-price school meals
Texas will be able to give additional assistance to families with children who would have otherwise received free or reduced-price meals at school before closures sparked by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Monday that Texas was approved to operate Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer, more commonly known as Pandemic EBT. The program, authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress, allows families to receive additional benefits equal to the value of free or reduced-price meals that their children would normally receive at school.
In a news release Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that the program will provide more than $1 billion in benefits, and that a one-time benefit of $285 per child will be issued.
The Pandemic EBT benefits can be used in the same way as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, and will be administered by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas Education Agency, according to a news release.
Families with kids between the ages of 5 and 18 who received SNAP benefits in March — when schools were first closed — will automatically receive benefits by May 22 on their current electronic benefit transfer card, which works like a debit card and is known as the “Lone Star Card” in Texas.
Families who did not receive SNAP benefits, often referred to as food stamps, in March, but whose children were eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals for the 2019-20 school year, will need to apply to receive the benefits on a new EBT card. Applications will be open from June 1-30 and will be processed in the order they are received, according to the news release.
“Families across our state have had to rapidly adjust to the impacts of this pandemic and we’re thankful to our many state and federal partners who were able to work together for our fellow Texans,” HHSC Executive Commissioner Phil Wilson said in a statement Tuesday.
In the 2019-2020 school year, approximately 3.6 million children were eligible for free and reduced-priced lunch in Texas, or approximately 67% of kids in participating schools, according to the USDA’s news release. Texas joins over 20 states that have been approved for the program.
To be eligible for free or reduced-price meals, families must meet certain income requirements based on the size of their household. Children in households with incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty level are eligible for free school meals, and households with incomes up to 185% of the federal poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals.
Some programs automatically qualify families for free school meals, including if they are SNAP recipients, according to the USDA. The USDA allows states to issue the Pandemic EBT benefits retroactively, back to the initial date of school closures. According to the USDA’s guidance, five days’ worth of Pandemic EBT benefits would equal $28.50.
Joining the Pandemic EBT program was a step advocates had called for — especially as record unemployment is likely to drive a spike in the need for food assistance.
Texas has already made a number of requests to grant greater flexibility to SNAP recipients, including asking that benefits be allowed to be used at take-out and drive-thru restaurants. The USDA also recently approved Texas’ request to participate in an online purchasing pilot program that will allow SNAP recipients to order groceries online for delivery.
HHSC announced Tuesday that the online pilot program will launch Wednesday, May 13, and that SNAP recipients will be able to purchase groceries for curbside pickup or delivery through Walmart or Amazon — the two retailers currently approved to participate.
The USDA also previously allowed the Texas Health and Humans Services Commission to provide emergency benefits, meaning that SNAP recipients in Texas will receive the maximum allowable amount of benefits for April and May.
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 4:39 PM.
