skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Ohio Gets Green Light to Extend Food Assistance for Kids

play audio
Play

Thursday, January 21, 2021   

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A key hunger-fighting program for Ohio children is being extended through the end of the school year.

The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program was created in March to help feed children who normally receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program but were learning from home.

Congress extended the program Oct. 1, and Ohio had to submit a new operation plan, which was just approved.

Rachel Cahill, consultant at the Center for Community Solutions, noted some families went without the assistance for several months.

"We're talking about October, November, December, January and up until whenever kids are able to get meals in school," Cahill outlined. "So we're glad that Ohio was one of the earliest states to make it through the sort of federal gauntlet of approval that it unfortunately took."

The extension starts in February and eligible families will receive retroactive benefits in a single payment.

P-EBT benefits are added to the Ohio Direction card, which is provided to SNAP beneficiaries and can be used to purchase foods at grocery stores.

It's estimated 600,000 Ohio children will benefit from the extended P-EBT.

Cahill noted last school year, the program distributed $261 million to eligible families in the state.

"P-EBT ended up being one of the only really pandemic relief resources that reached some families including families with immigrants and families who have had trouble enrolling in SNAP," Cahill explained. "So it was a really important way to reach those families and it was about $300 per child."

An estimated one in four Ohio children is struggling with hunger, and Cahill said P-EBT is part of an "all-hands on deck" strategy to meet the need.

"We are in a desperate hunger crisis right now, and we can actually see some trends in states where, when P-EBT hit, the rate of hunger slipped down for a period of time because families had additional resources to purchase food," Cahill observed.

School meal providers also are making food available for families in need, as well as local food pantries. And the latest COVID relief package included a 15% increase to SNAP benefits through June.

Disclosure: The Center for Community Solutions contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Health Issues, Poverty Issues, and Welfare Reform. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021