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Time running out for Missouri families to get $375 one-time federal food benefits

Kansas City Star - 10/7/2021

Oct. 7—COLUMBIA — Missouri families whose children qualify for free and reduced price school lunch have until this weekend to apply for a one-time $375 benefits card to help pay for groceries.

The program, called Summer Pandemic EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) allows low-income families who already qualify for food assistance to get the payment for each child. It's an extension of a program from the last school year, Pandemic EBT, that paid families on their electronic benefits cards if their children were in hybrid or virtual schooling, to cover the costs of what otherwise would have been a free or reduced lunch at school.

Congress extended the program to cover this past summer, when COVID-19 was still spreading but no children were in school. That makes far more families eligible for the summer program.

Missouri estimated the summer program is available to about 289,000 school-aged children who qualify for free and reduced lunch, and about 150,000 children in child care who are enrolled in the traditional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

But Missouri'sDepartment of Social Services (DSS) has required an application for the benefits, and advocates are concerned few are aware they are eligible for the $375.

Only 36,000 Missouri children were approved for the summer program as of late September, according to the Kansas City food bank Harvesters-The Community Food Network, amounting to about 13% of those eligible.

Missouri is one of just two states that required an application rather than automatically distributing benefits to eligible families as Kansas did, Harvesters said. DSS has supplied the summer benefits automatically only to children under the age of 6 who are enrolled in SNAP, or children whose families had already applied for the school-year benefits.

The application requires use of a printer and Internet, which can be challenging for low-income families, Harvesters public policy and advocacy advisor Karen Siebert said.

"There's a lot of reasons for a very, very low response rate," Siebert said. "We know they need those resources because they're eligible for free and reduced breakfast and lunch. I mean they've been shown to be extremely low-income."

The federal government allowed Missouri to extend the application deadline through this weekend, but mailed applications must be postmarked by Saturday, Oct. 9, Harvesters said.

WHO CAN APPLY: Any Missouri family whose child qualifies for free and reduced price lunch at school, or who attends a school where the majority of children qualify for free and reduced lunch — regardless of whether the child was in virtual or in-person school during the 2020-2021 school year. You will automatically get the $375 in summer benefits if you already applied for P-EBT during the 2020-2021 school year, or if your child is under the age of 6 and enrolled in SNAP.

HOW TO APPLY: The application form is online here in English and here in Spanish. It must be emailed to FSD.MOPEBT@dss.mo.gov by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 10 or postmarked and in the mail by Saturday, Oct. 9. Mailed applications must be sent to: Family Support Division, 615 E. 13th St, Kansas City, MO 64106.

You will need a printer and, if you are using email, a way to scan the signed application into your email.

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