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After struggling for nearly a year to get federal food assistance to qualified low-income families, Missouri has decided not to participate in this summer鈥檚 program 鈥� forgoing tens of millions of dollars in federal aid.

The problems administering the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program, or P-EBT, played a major role in the decision not to participate this year. Missouri education officials are not confident new money could be dispersed by a Sept. 30 deadline.

鈥淎s many Missouri families can attest, there have been a number of challenges throughout the process due to the federal requirements associated with accessing and administering the benefits,鈥� said Mallory McGowin, a spokesperson for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which administers the program, 鈥渃oupled with the limitations of our current state and local data collection systems.鈥�

P-EBT is a federal COVID relief program administered by states that has operated in various forms since 2020 to provide extra food benefits to kids, which are loaded onto cards and used like the food stamp program.

This summer鈥檚 program would鈥檝e provided $120 for food to any child who was eligible for free or reduced lunch during the last school year.

McGowin said in the 2021-2022 school year, roughly 356,000 students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

If that held true for the next school year, that would mean the state is missing out on $42.7 million in aid.

Challenges collecting and sharing data between agencies caused the major delays in getting last year鈥檚 money to eligible children.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just really upsetting to see the dysfunction in the outdated data systems and the dysfunction of the communication between different departments and sharing of data,鈥� said Christine Woody, food security policy manager at the advocacy organization Empower Missouri.

鈥淸That] is ultimately what they said is the reason why all these kids aren鈥檛 going to get food this summer 鈥� when lots of other states are able to make it work and make it happen,鈥� Woody said.

April Shields, a mother of a seven-year-old in the Kansas City area just received last summer鈥檚 benefits one month ago. She called the news 鈥渞idiculous鈥� and said that she learned the state would be turning down this summer鈥檚 money from the media instead of state officials.

鈥淵ou basically just robbed us of a benefit that you didn鈥檛 have to do anything for it but just to do your job,鈥� Shields said.

鈥淢ost of us are working class and if we don鈥檛 have a paycheck for a month, everything goes to hell,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I think that it鈥檚 really unfortunate that a decision is being made for us when there鈥檚 children out here who don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e going to eat when they go home in the evening.鈥�

April Shields

System issues

At least by the federal government to participate in this summer鈥檚 P-EBT program.

Other states not proceeding in the program, including Alaska, Mississippi, Texas, and Idaho, pinned their decision on staffing issues and the argument that the program was meant for COVID disruptions that are no longer occurring, among other reasons, according to .

Missouri鈥檚 education department has largely cited administrative hurdles to dispersing the benefits 鈥� which requires coordination between schools, the education department and social services department. The state needed to gather eligibility information about students in a form it didn鈥檛 previously collect and share data across platforms that didn鈥檛 necessarily share the same format.

Other states faced administrative challenges last year to dispersing the benefits over the summer 鈥� but most dispersed them just a few months later.

Missouri began dispersing summer 2022 benefits in June of 2023 and was among the last states to do so.

The state needed to create a data portal from scratch to collect student eligibility information from schools to share with the education department and then the social services department and federal government. That contract wasn鈥檛 signed until last August with the vendor, Carahsoft, according to records obtained by The Independent through the Missouri Sunshine Law.

At that point, some states had already begun distributing the benefits.

鈥淚 know state agencies have been working really hard to get it done,鈥� said Madison Eacret, coordinator of public policy at Operation Food Search, the Missouri-based hunger relief advocacy group. 鈥淏ut they need the support: to have the staff and the systems to ensure that we can accomplish the administration of the benefits.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 no small thing to say we need you to collect all this data and administer all these benefits,鈥� Eacret said. 鈥淏ut it is so important that it gets done that we need to figure out a good system in order for it to happen.鈥�

Kelsey Boone, senior child nutrition policy analyst at the D.C.-based Food Research & Action Center, who has studied P-EBT policy nationally, said states varied widely in establishing the proper infrastructure to disperse the benefits.

鈥淪ome states never fully developed a permanent infrastructure to handle the disbursement of these funds,鈥� Boone said.

鈥淎nd what we鈥檝e seen is some states have just had a backup鈥�distributing these funds. Some of the systems are not fully in place, which is cause for concern, especially heading into the permanent summer EBT program that we鈥檒l be getting next,鈥� Boone said.

Beginning next summer, the program will be made permanent federally, with $40 in benefits per month of summer vacation. States can choose whether or not to opt in.

McGowin pledged that going forward the state will 鈥渇ocus on implementing the system changes necessary to facilitate participation in summer EBT programs in future years.鈥�

But for Missouri to participate in next year鈥檚 program, 鈥渢he state鈥檚 data collection systems need to be addressed well in advance,鈥� McGowin said.

鈥淭he current P-EBT programs have required data to be collected from schools that DESE does not normally collect,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e must then address how the data can be most efficiently and effectively shared with DSS, and shared in a way that more seamlessly integrates with DSS鈥� benefit administration systems.鈥�

Woody said the state鈥檚 pledge to make changes to better operate the program in future years is 鈥渢he only bright spot.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 hopeful that that actually happens,鈥� Woody said. 鈥淏ut overall, it鈥檚 definitely disappointing.鈥�

It is not yet clear whether the state will make a public announcement it plans not to proceed with the program 鈥� the state did not respond to the question.

For months, participants in P-EBT raised concerns about a lack of communication from the state about when to expect last summer鈥檚 benefits. grew as families have sought and failed to receive information from the state, devoting hours to trying to find out where the benefits were and sharing information online, while managing tight budgets.

The state provided for months, after originally estimating the benefits would be dispersed by the end of 2022.

Eacret said she hopes the state adopts clearer communication with participants, including to inform them of this decision.

鈥淔amilies just need that kind of information so they can plan for their budgets or they鈥檙e not waiting around and thinking that it will be coming at the end of the summer,鈥� she said.

Allen Breed

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AP

Over 100,000 children waiting for summer 2022 benefits

The state said over 259,000 children have been issued summer 2022 P-EBT benefits so far, and 55,600 have not been issued benefits due to data issues and missing information. That version of the program was for $391 per eligible child.

The state is still working through the student benefits before they issue benefits for kids under six 鈥� summer 2022 P-EBT included kids under six but summer 2023 would not have.

McGowin said they anticipate 鈥渘early 158,000鈥� children under six will receive the benefits.

They plan to issue benefits for kids under six after completing dispersal for the student population.

One mother of three in St. Louis, Marie Moorehead, said she鈥檚 not yet received benefits for her two kids under age six.

To hear from a reporter that the state turned down summer 2023 money added 鈥渋nsult to injury,鈥� Moorehead said.

鈥淚鈥檓 just deeply upset,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ecause they already took a little over a year to pay out for the previous approval for the $391 that a lot of families received and a lot more still waiting, including myself.鈥�

Her family has struggled to afford food, Moorehead said, especially as prices have risen.

鈥淭o just take away that extra boost of security to ensure people were able to pay for milk for their babies, whatever it may be, vegetables, fruits, and knowing how high [the cost of food] is, is ridiculous,鈥� Moorehead said. 鈥淭hese officials have let these parents and children down a lot.鈥�

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