Groups urge Alabama to reverse course, join summer meal program for low-income kids

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama was one of 14 states that declined to participate in a federal program that gives summer food assistance to low-income families with school age children, prompting advocates on Wednesday to urge lawmakes to reverse course and join the program.

At a public hearing on the proposed education budget, several organizations urged legislators to set aside funding for Alabama to participate in 2025.

“Every child deserves the chance to grow learn and dream without the burden of hunger weighing them down,” Rhonda Mann, executive director of VOICES for Alabama’s Children told the Finance and Taxation-Education Committee.

The program called Summer EBT, or Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program, provides families $40 per month for each child receiving free and reduced-price school lunches. That would be about $120 to spend on groceries over the summer break. The program is intended to augment existing summer meal sites to help combat food insecurity in the summer months.

Alabama participated in the pandemic version of the program. Congress in 2022 made the program permanent effective this summer, but Alabama has declined to take part in the permanent program. States split the administrative costs of running the program but the benefits are federally funded.

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