For the past three summers selected Michigan families have
received food assistance through a pilot program called Summer EBT for
Children. This program has been
conducted through a grant that the State of Michigan received from the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Food insecurity during the summer months among school-aged
children is a nation-wide issue. Children
from low-income families receive school meals either free or at reduced-price
throughout the school year. When school
ends so do these meal benefits. Many
families struggle to provide these additional meals to their school-aged
children without the help of any additional food stamp dollars.
This pilot provided a food package to selected qualifying
families valued at $60 per children per month during the summer. The food package included milk, cheese, eggs,
fresh fruits & vegetables, tuna, whole wheat bread, corn tortillas, cereal,
juice and peanut butter and/or beans. A
$30 food package was also tested this past summer.
Over 32,000 Michigan children received these benefits this
summer. The program ends soon and the
participating families have until MIDNIGHT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2013
to redeem the last of their food benefits.
Final reports and evaluation of SEBTC will be presented to
Congress. The future of this program
will be determined based upon this data.
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