New State-Funded Food Assistance Program to Replace Summer EBT - 96 Percent of Tennessee Children in Households With Low Incomes to be Left Without Benefits

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New State-Funded Food Assistance Program to Replace Summer EBT – 96 Percent of Tennessee Children in Households With Low Incomes to be Left Without Benefits

By Kelsey Boone, Senior Child Nutrition Policy Analyst

Published February 26, 2025

In the summer of 2024, Tennessee participated in the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) Program, which provided $120 in grocery benefits to approximately 700,000 eligible children across the state. While Summer EBT benefit dollars are provided by the federal government, states must match 50 percent of the administrative cost of implementing and operating the program. Tennessee allocated $5.8 million to cover half of Summer EBT administrative costs in 2024, and in return, the state drew down over $77 million in benefits that helped to address childhood food insecurity during the summer months.

Despite the success of the program, Tennessee decided to opt out of the federally funded Summer EBT Program for 2025, citing the high administrative cost of the program and the belief that the “pandemic-era program” was no longer needed.

Instead, just last week, the state announced a completely state-funded summer food assistance program that will only serve 15 of Tennessee’s 95 counties and cost the state $3 million.

In addition to only providing benefits in 15 counties, the new program limits eligibility to children in households receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In comparison, the federally funded Summer EBT Program provides benefits to any child who is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals or who is on SNAP, TANF, or in some states, Medicaid.

The budget for the state program indicates that fewer than 25,000 children are slated to benefit this summer, which is only 4 percent of the total children that received Summer EBT benefits in 2024 in Tennessee.

The Summer EBT program began as a demonstration project in the Summer of 2011, long before the COVID-19 pandemic. These demonstration projects operated in multiple states over the following eight years, including in Tennessee, growing to serve over 426,000 children across the nation, and showing that the Summer EBT model decreases food insecurity and leads to improved nutrition. Summer EBT, in conjunction with the traditional summer meals programs, provides key nutrition support to children when school is out.

This new state approach to Summer EBT does not make sense for Tennessee, its children, or its taxpayers. Without the federal benefits, the new program will cost the state a minimum of $120 per child, whereas the cost per child to the state was only around $8 in 2024 through the federal Summer EBT Program. Tennessee is electing to reach fewer children for a higher state price tag. This decision will hurt children the most and put them at greater risk of hunger.

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