September 5, 2020
Many Worcester students not active in food benefits program
BY Worcester Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — The money has been issued. The cards have gone out.
But officials are concerned that more than 2,000 Worcester Public Schools students still have not activated their nearly $400 worth of food benefits through the Pandemic-Electronic Benefits Transfer Program.
“We know how challenging it can be for families to access good food during this time,” Mayor Joseph M. Petty said in a video message last week. “We want to make sure that all of these dollars are utilized to help your family buy food … using that card is important.
The P-EBT program provides additional money for families to buy food while schools are closed due to COVID-19.
The program basically transfers the $5.70 the government would normally spend daily on school lunch for a child to an EBT card to make up for the months when school was closed due to COVID-19.
The total benefit on the cards is nearly $400.
And because all students in Worcester Public Schools are eligible for free or reduced school lunch, each received benefits from the program.
But Gina Plata-Nino, a lawyer with the Central West Justice Center in Worcester, said Thursday morning that 2,204 of the 15,804 cards issued to Worcester students in June haven’t been activated. Those who already received EBT benefits had the extra money added to their existing cards.
“Families were not expecting it, and it was addressed to children,” Plata-Nino said. “A lot of them probably threw them out.”
Plata-Nino said other reasons why the cards may not have been activated include immigration concerns, technical difficulties activating the card, or people may have concluded that they don’t need the benefits.
The United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Transitional Assistance have both concluded use of P-EBT benefits does not cause any “public charge” problems. Help in activating the cards or replacing a lost card is available from the DTA assistance line at 877-382-2363.
And if you don’t need the benefits, Plata-Nino recommended using the card and donating the food to local nonprofits or food pantries. For instance in Worcester, the Regional Environmental Council is willing to take the food and donate it to food pantries.
Plus it stimulates the economy.
The cards can be used at grocery stores, farmers markets and anywhere else where benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are accepted.
The federal government set aside $200 million for the commonwealth for the program, according to Jill Shah of the Shah Family Foundation.
“Please do use these cards for your own health and nutrition and for the local economy,” said Amy Kershaw, commissioner of the DTA, said in the video. “The state and our communities and all our partners in the community are all working together to address food insecurity.”