LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas has joined Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), a new program that will assist families to purchase food "during the summer months" for qualified children.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced on Tuesday that children who qualify for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will receive $120 in food benefits during the summer months.
"Making sure no Arkansan goes hungry, especially children, is a top concern for my administration," Sanders said. "We are leveraging every resource at our disposal to fight this crisis, and Summer EBT promises to be an important new tool to give Arkansas children the food and nutrition they need."
Summer EBT launches this year, and the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Department of Education (ADE) will collaborate on an operation plan detailing how benefits will be administered beginning in Summer 2024.
“No child should ever go hungry,” DHS Secretary Kristi Putnam said. “Summer EBT will allow us to further help combat food insecurity across Arkansas by providing critical resources for eligible families to provide much-needed nutritious food for their children, even when school is out. We are excited to join ADE in standing up this program and seeing the positive impact it will have on children in our state.”
According to the governor's office, the benefits will be provided on pre-loaded EBT cards, similar to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Eligible families can then use the cards to purchase groceries.
ADE Secretary Jacob Oliva said hunger can be detrimental to student learning, which is why school-aged children who receive SNAP benefits will automatically qualify for the new program.
"Food insecurity affects students not just during the school year, but also during the summer months," Oliva said. "We are pleased to partner with the governor's office and DHS to address this problem. The Summer EBT program is a step in the right direction to ensuring no child goes hungry."
Additionally, students who attend an NSLP school and have individually been determined to be eligible for free and reduced meals will also automatically qualify for Summer EBT benefits.
Sanders said the benefits are federally funded, and the program will be evenly split between federal and state funding.
Arkansas Sen. John Boozman said the Summer EBT program is a step toward "modernizing the outdated summer meals program" and will "help students thrive in and out of the classroom."
"It serves more children in need by offering states multiple options—including a summer EBT program—to help tackle this challenge," Boozman said. "Nutrition is critical to the ability of youth... I am extremely pleased Arkansas is utilizing this promising new tool we added to the toolbox for states to address food insecurity."
We talked with Gavin Lesnick with DHS regarding whether the Summer EBT benefits will be a one-time payment or distributed monthly. He said the frequency will be determined in the operations plan later this year.