Iowa reverses course, will apply for $28M to help feed kids over summer

Iowa state officials have reversed course and will apply for federal assistance to provide food for Iowa school children from low-income families during summer break, following weeks of lobbying by anti-hunger advocates.

Alex Carfrae, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, told The Gazette late Tuesday the state will participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s summer program this year. The deadline for states to apply is July 14.

Earlier this month, a department official told a member of the Iowa Hunger Coalition that Iowa was not going to participate in the summer Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer — or P-EBT — program this year, according to an email obtained by The Gazette.

That would have meant forgoing a potential $28.2 million, or $120 per eligible child, in federal food aid for an estimated 235,000 children who would have received free or reduced-price school meals this past school year, Carfrae responded in an email.

“HHS understands many Iowa families continue to face food insecurity challenges,” Carfrae wrote. “After having conversations with federal partners expressing concern about the administrative burden associated with the Summer 2023 Pandemic EBT program, we have been assured they will provide guidance and support throughout the process.”

He said Health and Human Services will “continue to work toward a more sustainable food security program for Iowa families” that is “focused on supporting children and families rather than the burdensome administrative processes required to implement it.” The state plans to have this in place for summer 2024.

Carfrae said the department still needs to apply to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and await approval. He did not have a timeline for when the state would be notified if its application is approved or when benefits will be issued.

The program provides families with children extra benefits for groceries when their kids aren’t receiving meals from school. Created as part of federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools and child care centers were closed or operating with reduced hours or attendance, families with children receiving free or reduced-price meals could apply for a debit-type card to purchase food to make up for missing school meals.

Iowa participated in the P-EBT program last year, providing food assistance benefits to school children in grades K-12 who were eligible to receive free or reduced price meals during the 2021-22 school year, and to school children who were newly determined eligible for meal benefits during the summer months.

With the ending of the public health emergency, children in child care enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP — no longer qualify for the extra benefit.

Tuesday’s announcement comes after Iowa Democratic lawmakers last week implored Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to apply for the federal assistance, and after weeks of lobbying by members of the Iowa Hunger Coalition.

State Sens. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, and Izaah Knox, D-Des Moines, and state Rep. Sean Bagniewski, D-Des Moines, sent a letter to Reynolds last Thursday urging the governor to take advantage of the USDA program.

A total of 41 organizations and more than 100 Iowa faith leaders had also signed letters to Reynolds and Iowa Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia that were to be publicly released Wednesday, urging them to reconsider their decision, said Luke Elzinga, chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition and communications and advocacy manager at the Des Moines Area Religious Council Food Pantry Network.

The groups wrote that the funds will not only feed hungry children at a time when food banks and food pantries across the state continue to assist record-high numbers of Iowans, but provide an estimated more than $43 million economic boon to Iowa’s farmers, grocery stores and local communities.

“At a time when our neighbors need our help now more than ever, we cannot lean on private charities alone to address the issue of food insecurity,” Iowa interfaith leaders wrote. “Since other pandemic assistance programs ended, feeding agencies across our state have been struggling to keep up with rising need. … Iowa needs to use every available resource to reduce food insecurity in our communities, especially for our youngest neighbors.”

In Iowa, one in every 11 children faces hunger, with 40 percent of households receiving SNAP benefits, according to Feeding America.

Trone Garriott, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, thanked state officials “for listening to Iowans and agreeing to apply for this program.”

"This is the right thing to do for our families and communities,” she said in a statement. “We should never leave resources on the table when it comes to caring for our kids.”

Beginning in 2024, states will provide summer benefits for school-age children through a new, permanent nationwide program, which will continue to provide benefits to help families overcome summer hunger.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com