USDA Approves Maryland's Plan For New Meal Assistance For Kids Who Would Get Free, Reduced-Price Lunches
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given Maryland approval to provide new meal assistance to all children who would receive free or reduced-price lunches if not for school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's congressional delegation said Wednesday.
The Maryland Department of Human Services estimates that about 427,000 children will benefit from the program.
Maryland is one of 12 states whose plans have already been approved.
The delegation issued the following statement in a news release:
"Maryland students have lost primary access to healthy and nutritious food provided by their schools at the same time as food insecurity has spiked as a result of the pandemic. The state plan approved today will allow families to directly purchase food to feed their children, supplementing the free emergency meals being distributed by Maryland public schools. As a delegation, we are committed to working together to ensure that this and other forms of relief created through the Families First Coronavirus Response and CARES Acts make their way to Maryland families as swiftly as possible."
This funding comes as a result of the CARES Act, which provided $8.8 billion in additional funding for child nutrition programs in order to ensure children receive meals while school is not in session.
Since the temporary school closures began on March 16, Maryland schools and agencies have been providing free emergency meals to children 18 years and younger.
As of April 25, Maryland local school systems have served more than 6.4 million meals across 698 meal sites.
Like regular SNAP benefits, P-EBT benefits will be issued via EBT card to households of children who would have received free or reduced-price meals.
Monthly assistance will be calculated based on the daily rate of $5.70 per child for each day that the child's school was closed in a particular month.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
