PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Education and the R.I. Department of Human Services recently announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service granted approval to the state to extend the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program for the summer months.
The program provided children throughout the school year benefits so that they have access to food during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the state expected to receive $45.1 million for the program, children will have the ability to access food through the summer break in July and August, RIDE said.
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The summer P-EBT benefits are available to all school-age children who were eligible to receive or qualified for free or reduced priced meals at their schools through the National School Lunch Program during the 2020-2021 school year, RIDE said. Children under the age of 6 who also receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are also eligible to receive Summer P-EBT benefits, the department said.
“The pandemic EBT benefits have been crucial to our efforts to support those students when they cannot attend school in person,” R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be able to continue those benefits through the summer, and we are grateful to the staff at DHS who are working together with us to distribute these benefits.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
