By Mary Hennigan, Arkansas Advocate
Fruits, fresh vegetables, ground beef, and yogurt were among the first things Nedra Gaines bought when she received her three children’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer cards at the end of June.
A new federal food assistance program, Summer EBT, provides eligible children with $120 on a pre-loaded card to purchase groceries during a critical time of the year when students lose reliable meals at school. Thirteen states chose not to participate in the new program.
Gaines, 37, is raising three sons who attend the Monticello School District in southeast Arkansas. With ages ranging from six to 15, and at least one who’s active in sports, Gaines relied on the Summer EBT cards to help feed her growing boys.
“I just felt that it’s really an awesome thing that they did,” Gaines said of the state opting into the federal program. “I think they should continue to do it for the parents that actually just need help.”
Arkansas has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the nation and is one of about three dozen states that opted into the inaugural food aid program, which is modeled off a similar service implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 250,000 Arkansans automatically qualified for the Summer EBT program because they received other assistance or were on the free and reduced lunch program, according to the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), the state agency tapped to distribute the cards.
As regular recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Gaines’ children were among that group.
DHS was expected to distribute the cards to eligible Arkansans on July 10, about five weeks after most schools were released for summer break, but spokesperson Gavin Lesnick said the cards were mailed earlier than expected. Applications will remain open until Aug. 26, and the latest benefits will be issued is Sept. 30.
Gaines recently lost her job, and she relies on a combination of programs to help her buy groceries, including SNAP and Summer EBT, she said. Even with the assistance, Gaines said she spends about $300 a month on groceries and occasionally receives help from her family.
Life-long effects
Childhood hunger has been shown to cause long-term effects, including learning loss and health complications as adults. It also has been shown to have correlating effects to poverty, especially as grocery prices continue to rise, said Maricella Garcia, race equity director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
Approximately 150,000 children in Arkansas live in poverty, according to a report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The increase in food prices is burdensome for families, particularly for those who live in rural areas, lack transportation to access assistance or aren’t able to miss work to cook meals for their children in the summer.
Prior to the pandemic, Garcia said a typical grocery bill for a family of four could double during the summer months just by having their children home all day.
“I cannot stress to you enough how bad childhood hunger is during the summer,” she said.
While the state does have to use some of its own resources to implement the Summer EBT program, the assistance is entirely federally funded, and that’s something Garcia said should be taken advantage of.
“Hunger doesn’t just affect [children] in the summer.” she said. “Those kids that face hunger in the summer will face learning loss when they return to school. They’re more likely to be behind than their peers … they are also more likely to face long-term health impacts, and that goes all the way through adulthood.”
Though summer accounts for a short period of the year, Garcia said addressing hunger during that time can improve overall food insecurity and poverty outcomes. A variety of overlapping services also helps to alleviate adverse outcomes, she said.
Without adequate services in place, Garcia said the state will “pay for [the health and learning effects] one way or the other.”
The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.
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