Chance to get COVID-19 food benefits for Kentucky school children ends Aug. 31
Kentucky households with children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals are being encouraged to apply for help with groceries before an Aug. 31 deadline.
Feeding Kentucky and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy held a joint news conference Monday to talk about the closing window to apply for the federal benefits. They amount to $313.50 for each child who received free or reduced-price meals at school prior to school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While many have already benefited, there are roughly 117,000 Kentucky students who qualify but whose parents or guardians have not yet applied, said Jessica Klein, policy associate for the economic policy center.
If all those households apply, she said, Kentucky could reap about $33.4 million in federal aid. Besides benefiting the children, the money would help Kentucky farmers and grocery stores, she said.
Klein emphasized that participation in the free and reduced lunch program is the only requirement to get the benefits. If all students were provided free meals at a school, all students are eligible for the benefit, regardless of their family’s income.
The so-called P-EBT (Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer) benefits assist households with eligible students who missed school meals in March, April and May this year by providing a benefits card that families can use to buy food.
After applying at Benefind.ky.gov, the benefits will be mailed to recipients in about a week, said Jason Dunn, director of the Division of Family Support in the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
There is no income limit to participate in the program and persons can apply regardless of their immigration status.
Dunn said he has not seen any problem in the program with scammers but stressed that the only place to apply for them is at Benefind.ky.gov.
Benefits should have been added automatically for families with an EBT card. Families without a current EBT card or who didn’t receive the benefits yet need to apply.
An EBT card works like a debit card which can be used to purchase food anywhere EBT benefits are accepted. This includes both walmart.com and amazon.com. P-EBT benefits can be used to buy food for the household.
Tod Griffin, executive director of the Kentucky Grocers and Convenience Store Association, said about 4,000 food retail stores in the state are licensed to accept the benefits.
Karena Cash, advocacy coordinator for Feeding Kentucky, said the program is essential given that 240,000 Kentuckians have lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Tamara Sandberg, executive director of Feeding Kentucky, said it is “unacceptable” that Congress has not extended the benefits as the new school year begins with distance learning.
For more information about requirements and qualifications, visit https://feedingky.org/coronavirus/pandemic-ebt-p-ebt/.
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 1:57 PM.
