Students eligible for free lunch to receive $370 in SNAP benefits to cover rest of school year

Students who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals at school can now be reimbursed for the meals they are no longer getting.

The Wolf Administration announced a new program Thursday that will let students benefit from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Students who are eligible through the National School Lunch Program can receive funds through SNAP, under a new, temporary program called Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT).

The Department of Human Services (DHS) estimates that about 958,000 Pennsylvania students will qualify for the new program.

“As families adapt to the commonwealth’s school closures and students adjust to learning at home, parents and guardians shouldn’t have to be concerned about accessing nutritious meals for their children,” Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said in a statement. “The Department of Education is proud to be able to partner with DHS to ensure that our students continue to be served during the pandemic-related closures.”

The Wolf administration received approval for the program from the Food and Nutrition Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Human Services will be able to provide SNAP funds to households with children who have lost access to free or reduced-price school meals. Benefits will be issued through EBT cards issued to qualified families, according to a news release.

A family’s benefit will be determined based on the federal reimbursement rate for the daily rate of free school breakfasts and lunches, about $5.70 per child.

That cost will be multiplied to last the remainder of the school year, so that a family would receive a benefit of about $370.50 per child.

Benefits will begin to be issued to qualified families within 15 business days, the news release said.

“Schools may be closed for the rest of the school year because of covid-19, but students still need to eat breakfast and lunch,” DHS Secretary Teresa Miller said. “P-EBT will help families make up for the loss of in-school meals and avoid these potential long-term outcomes.”

The program may also benefit families whose economic situation has changed since school closures began. Families can apply for the National School Lunch Program or for SNAP benefits at compass.state.pa.us.