Kids Could Go Hungry This Summer If Texas Doesn’t Opt Into New Program

Some of our most vulnerable residents could go hungry if Texas doesn't act soon.

According to the Texas Tribune, Texas missed the January 1st deadline to opt into federal summer meal assistance for children in low-income families.

Texas, along with a few other states like Florida and Oklahoma, are not yet participating in SUN Bucks.

From the USDA website:

SUN Bucks is a new grocery benefit available across most of the U.S. Families with eligible school-aged children can get $120 per child to buy groceries during the summer. SUN Bucks may have a different name depending on your location.

SUN Bucks is an additional benefit for families already receiving benefits like SNAP and EBT (aka "food stamps").

The additional benefit is meant to mitigate the additional food costs of having children eat every meal at home during the summer instead of getting free lunch and breakfast at school.

Texas would have 3.8 million children eligible for the program should it choose to opt in.

Texas still has the opportunity to participate, should the legislature provide half the administrative costs of the program- about $55 million. If the state can manage that, Texas families will receive about $400 million in aid.

We all know how incredibly expensive groceries have gotten- and with more mouths to feed $120 per child seems like the bare minimum to ever the additional expense.

However, even if Texas does not opt into the program, Texas children could still benefit from SUN meals- which are provided at meal sites like parks and school campuses. Kids do need the ability to access these meals, which can be tricky for families without cars, etc.

Here's hoping we can find ways to keep our little Texans fed- whether they get SUN Bucks or not.