by Jamil Ragland
HARTFORD, CT – The start of a new state program aimed at combating summer hunger for out-of-school children, bolstered by federal support, is being delayed by about six weeks, according to the state Department of Social Services.
The DSS had planned to disperse $32.7 million to eligible families across the state with dependent children as part of its Summer EBT program beginning June 23. However, a message on the department’s website for the program cites an “unexpected delay” that has caused the dispersal to be pushed back to early August.
“Summer EBT is a brand new program that has not launched yet and DSS is preparing to begin this summer. It will be an additional grocery assistance program to benefit families with children while school is out during the summer months,” DSS Deputy Communications Director Christine Stuart said. “The launch of this new program does not impact any other food assistance programs. When we launch it this summer, families will begin receiving additional summer assistance benefits above any other food assistance programs that they are already receiving.”
The program is being funded federally by the US Department of Agriculture as part of its SUN programs, which seek to provide children with nutritious food during the summer months when they don’t receive breakfast and lunch from school. The Summer EBT benefit will provide $120 per child.
Families who already receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Family Assistance (TFA) program benefits, or who participate in Husky A and meet certain income requirements, are automatically enrolled in the Summer EBT program. Families who do not automatically qualify can find the application on the state’s website, here (and here for Spanish speakers).
Connecticut submitted its letter of intent to operate Summer EBT on Dec. 28, 2023, ahead of the Jan. 1 deadline. The state submitted its initial plan for operations and management on Feb. 15 and was the first state in the Northeast region to have its plan approved, receiving approval from the USDA on April 29, 2024.
The federal allocation of $32.7 million for the Summer EBT program arrived in May. The total is to be spread out between the families of about 273,000 children in Connecticut.
The new Summer EBT is built off of a pilot program that Connecticut and nine other states participated in beginning in 2011, and only served 9,000 children across the state. The new program provides funding for meals across 40 states and tribal territories.
The announcement of the delay was met with frustration from some corners.
“How is this possible? People will go hungry. Why are the nonprofits who are vastly underfunded by the state expected to pick up the slack?” posted one commenter on the DSS Facebook page.
Hunger has spiked in Connecticut and across the nation since the pandemic and Covid-era food relief programs have expired over the last year. According to Feed America’s report, Map the Meal Gap 2024, Connecticut saw an additional 70,000 people fall into food insecurity in 2022, increasing the total number of food insecure people to 470,000. One in every eight state residents experienced food insecurity in 2022, up from one in 10 in 2021.
At the same time, increased funding for some nutrition programs, such as the free school meals provided to students during the 2023-24 academic year, has expired. Extra year-round SNAP and TFA benefits ended in February 2023.