The benefits program, Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT), is a federally-funded pandemic relief program that includes not only summertime benefits for low-income children and students but also a program for academic-year benefits. That is a timeline that does not seem likely to allow the majority of benefits to be issued this year. Now, the state urges schools to begin submitting eligibility data by the end of the year - the first of several steps to providing benefits. In the state’s plan, submitted to the federal government in October, Missouri officials predicted families would begin receiving benefits “by the end of 2022 or sooner.” Meanwhile, her expenses ‘snowball.’ (Photo submitted)īecause of a series of delays, the benefits designed to help families with summer food costs likely won’t be distributed until deep into winter. Sheils is still waiting to receive food benefits designed to provide relief for last summer. “I don’t think people understand that everything just kind of compounds.” Series of delays Jennifer Sheils is pictured with three of her five children, who are 10, 13, and 15 years old. “If would have been there when you needed it, you wouldn’t have had to do some things like use credit cards,” she said. If the food benefits had been issued closer to summertime, Sheils said, her family wouldn’t be in such a precarious position. Sheils worries about her ability to afford Christmas gifts for her children, or even the ingredients to bake holiday cookies. Last month, her family couldn’t afford to pay their credit card bill. In the fall, Sheils’ family had to divert money from utilities bills to groceries, narrowly avoiding being disconnected. In Oklahoma, all benefits were provided in July and October.Įach additional month without the benefit, Sheils said, “things kind of snowball.” By the end of September, for instance, Kentucky and Tennessee had already finished issuing the benefits. 19, after all, but five other states had been approved.īy that point, many states had finished dispersing benefits. Missouri’s plan for distributing the aid was approved by the federal government on Oct. Four of Sheils’ children are in school and qualify for free meals, making them eligible for the one-time benefit. The program provides grocery benefits of $391 for every child who qualified for subsidized school lunches during the prior academic year, and for children under 6 who qualify for SNAP. The federally-funded COVID relief program, called summer Pandemic EBT, is designed to retroactively help families cover summer food costs. Now, the state says, she could be waiting until next year to receive the benefits. Charles, has waited without a clear timeline from the state, except for officials’ assurance that the benefits would be disbursed by the end of this year. (Missouri Independent) – Jennifer Sheils logs into her online portal for Missouri food benefits every day, refreshing the screen in the hopes that the state’s deposit of roughly $1,500 in summer supplemental grocery assistance has arrived.įor months, Sheils, a mother of five in St.
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