Starting this week, families whose children receive free or reduced lunch at school will receive additional SNAP benefits, or food stamps.
It's aimed at helping cover the costs of meals families may not have received from their child's school during the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the state's Family and Social Services Administration, about 600,000 children qualify for the pandemic-related benefit. Families will receive the daily cost of school meals multiplied by the average number of days missed since school buildings closed. That's about $319 in benefits for each child who qualifies.
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Families who do not otherwise receive SNAP benefits will receive a new card in the mail and instructions on how to use it. Others will have the additional benefits applied to their existing EBT cards by the end of May.
Contact Jeanie at jlindsa@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @jeanjeanielindz.