Resource Library

Read FRAC’s new Summer EBT Program Brief, Looking Ahead to Permanent Summer EBT: Recommendations, to learn more about the program, how it provides a complementary approach to the existing Summer Nutrition Programs, and find ways to ensure Summer EBT success in 2024. 

Summer can be the hungriest time of year for families with school-age children. Summer Nutrition Programs combined with Summer EBT is an effective recipe to meet children’s nutritional needs during the summer. Learn more in FRAC’s new one-pager. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 establishes a permanent, nationwide Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) Program to begin the summer of 2024 and makes changes to the Pandemic-EBT Program for the summer of 2023.

Learn more about provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 in FRAC’s fact sheet on Summer and Pandemic EBT Programs. 

This report measures the reach of the Summer Nutrition Programs in July 2021, nationally and in each state, compared to July 2019 and July 2020.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service issued Streamlining Program Requirements and Improving Integrity in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) on September 19, 2022, a final rule that simplifies and clarifies SFSP program requirements while also removing administrative barriers. Several of the final changes formally codify many of the rescinded policies that were previously available through nationwide waivers, as well as several flexibilities that are currently available through policy guidance. Learn more in FRAC’s summary.

In spring 2020, millions of students were either out of school or learning remotely. Pandemic EBT helped to fill the nutritional gap left by lack of access to school meals and had a large impact on addressing food insecurity.

FRAC’s latest Pandemic EBT report draws on a survey sent to all state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program directors to highlight the critical importance of this program for children, families, and school nutrition programs. It then takes lessons learned reported by states to make policy recommendations for a permanent nationwide Summer EBT Program and identifies best practices to support the implementation.

The next pandemic relief legislation passed by Congress must ensure that children can access the healthy food they need through child nutrition programs, including at school and during the summer. The following three provisions designed to support economic recovery and provide pandemic relief recently came close to being enacted and now must be included in the next piece of legislation.

During the pandemic, the Pandemic EBT program has been a vital nutrition resource for families whose children lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to school closures. This gap extends to the summer as well. With the limited reach of the Summer Nutrition Programs, there is a need for a complementary program to provide EBT benefits during the summer. This storybook gives a brief background of Pandemic EBT and Summer EBT, what actions are needed to make a Summer EBT program permanent, and, as told in the words of people who benefit from federal nutrition assistance, why this is so important.

Children under six who are enrolled in SNAP in the last month of the school year, or at any point over the covered summer period, are eligible for 2021 summer P-EBT benefits. SNAP-enrolled infants who are born before the end of the covered summer period are also eligible for P-EBT benefits for the entire covered summer period. Explore this one page fact sheet to learn more.

The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program provides nutritional resources to families who have lost access to free or reduced-price meals due to school or child care closures. In the American Rescue Plan, passed in March 2021, Congress extended P-EBT to any “covered summer period” that followed a school year when a public health emergency due to COVID-19 had been declared. The program will provide money on a new or existing EBT card to help fill the summer meals gap left by the inability to access meals during the summer. This resource has answers to frequently asked questions regarding P-EBT during summer 2021.

Launch page to open interactive map and tables for 2020 summer nutrition reports (with data on summer programs in July 2019)

The critical role that breakfast plays in
children’s overall well-being does not end when the
school year does.

FRAC has developed a communications toolkit to help you spread the word about the benefits of summer nutrition programs.

The need to expand the reach of the Summer
Nutrition Programs is more important than ever as
communities continue to respond to COVID-19’s
impacts on food security, education, and the economy.

The Summer EBT program can reduce summer hunger by providing additional resources to purchase food during the summer months for families whose children are certified to receive free or reduced-price school meals during the school year. Summer EBT is a complement to the Summer Nutrition Programs and can help reduce food insecurity for low-income families, particularly in areas with limited access to summer meals.