By Sara Tiano, The Chronicle of Social Change, May 5, 2020
As lines for food banks stretch for miles and millions of Californians apply for unemployment in record numbers amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new anti-hunger program is giving families debit cards to keep their fridges and pantries stocked.
Close to two-thirds of school-aged children in California could well be eligible, and the state anticipates spending as much as $1.4 billion on the infusion into the budgets of struggling households, said Kimberley Johnson, director of the California Department of Social Services. In spreading the word about the new food benefits program this week, Johnson said families with children who are receiving food stamps, public health and foster care benefits do not even need to apply, because the money will be issued automatically. “And the funds will be in the mail later this month.”
Starting in mid-May, families with children who receive free or reduced-cost school lunches, and whose schools have closed in an effort to stem the spread of the virus, will receive Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer, known as P-EBT, cards loaded with up to $365 per child that they can use to buy groceries. The funds are meant to bolster CalFresh – California’s version of the federal food stamp program – and the grab-and-go food distribution programs being run by school districts while campuses are shut down, according to the CDSS, which is administering the program.
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