ICYMI: Rep. Kirkpatrick Announces Critical Nutrition Assistance for 700,000+ Arizona Children Thanks to the American Rescue Plan
Press Release
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a new effort funded by the American Rescue Plan to provide adequate nutrition to more than 30 million children over the summer by expanding Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) benefits. The American Rescue Plan, which Rep. Kirkpatrick voted to pass, will provide over $272.9 million in summer meals to about 728,000 schoolchildren throughout the state of Arizona.
P-EBT was established in March 2020 to provide food dollars to families to make up for meals missed when schools have closed due to COVID-19. The program was set to expire on Sept. 30, 2021, but through the American Rescue Plan Act, benefits are now available for the duration of the pandemic, including during the summer months. P-EBT builds on the USDA's Summer EBT pilots, which began in 2011 and have proven successful at reducing severe food insecurity as well as improving the quality of children's diets. Recent research by the Brookings Institute confirms P-EBT also has a measurable impact on food insecurity, decreasing food hardship faced by low-income children by 30% in the week following benefit issuance.
"I am extremely glad that our schoolchildren will be taken care of over the summer thanks to our passage of the American Rescue Plan," said Rep. Kirkpatrick. "This expansion of P-EBT benefits over the summer is an innovative approach to reducing child hunger in the United States, a widespread problem that the pandemic only exacerbated. By providing low-income families in Arizona with this benefit over the summer, we are working to ensure that no child has to miss a meal."
Children are eligible for this temporary nutrition benefit -- loaded onto an EBT card that can then be used to purchase food -- if they are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year or if they are under age six and live in a SNAP household.
For more information about P-EBT, visit the P-EBT website. For a state-by-state breakdown of the benefits, click here.
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