FRAC Chat

FRAC and the Center on Budget and Policies Priorities’ new state fact sheets detail the positive impact the Build Back Better Act would have on child nutrition in every state. The $10 billion investment would allow more schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all of their students through the Community Eligibility Provision and would create a nationwide Summer EBT program to help close the summer hunger gap.

In August 2017, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) received a call from a social services agency north of Boston. A rising eighth-grader had contacted the agency because he thought his high school would not let him start school after Labor Day unless his mother paid off $220 in unpaid meal debt. His mother was severely disabled and not fluent in English. The 13-year-old was calling for help, advocating for himself.

MLRI learned that the district was “only” denying his participation in extracurricular activities like sports until his mom paid the $220. When digging further, MLRI discovered that the district had failed to directly certify the teen for free school meal status. He was getting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits the entire time the meal debt was accruing but a school district administrative error never picked him up, subjecting him to harsh school meal debt policies. Thus began MLRI’s quest to never let another child suffer the indignities of unpaid meal debt.

After the terrible December 2021 tornadoes ripped through communities in states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee,, the Biden administration has pledged to get help to those affected by the disaster.
The FRAC Advocate’s Guide to Disaster SNAP and our disaster page provide stakeholders with information on identifying how federal nutrition programs can assist in recovery. A new resource page provides updates on developments for aid to the communities hit hard by the December 2021 tornadoes.

The responses of Propel SNAP customers surveyed in November 2021 and recent data analyses reported by The New York Times underscore the precarious financial situation many low-income households face. This is even as temporary SNAP benefit boosts, monthly advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments, and other federal initiatives have helped mitigate household hardship and stimulate the economy during COVID-19. With some federal aid payments slated to sunset, the implications for policymakers are significant.

Households with low incomes face hard choices between paying for food and paying for other basics such as shelter and medicine. Those choices will get even harder for participants when the COVID-19 health emergency ends and, with it, the SNAP Emergency Allotments that have boosted benefits temporarily. Most SNAP participants will lose an average of $82 a month.

A SNAP deductions strategy should be an important part of addressing that looming “hunger cliff.”