US House Rep Susan Davis' office issued the following on Thursday:
Washington, June 20, 2019
U.S. Representative Susan Davis (D-CA-53), a senior member
of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and U.S. Senator Patty
Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate health committee, introduced
legislation to tackle the silent crisis of child hunger impacting
families across the country during the summer months. During the
academic year, millions of kids from low-income families are able to get
free or reduced-priced meals at school, so they can get the nutrition
they need to learn in class. But when school lets out for the summer,
many of those same kids lose access to regular meals—and many go without
the nutrition they need to live healthy lives. To address this
challenge, Representative Davis and Senator Murray introduced the Stop
Child Summer Hunger Act, a bill that would provide families who have
children eligible for free and reduced-price school meals with an
electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card. This EBT card would provide
$150, equal to about $60 per month, for each child eligible for free or
reduced-price school meals, so the family can purchase groceries to
replace the meals that the children would otherwise receive at school.
Rep. Davis reintroduced the legislation in the House and Sen. Murray
reintroduced the bill in the Senate.
“No child should go hungry and no parent should have to worry about being able to feed their child,” Rep. Davis. “We
know that well-fed children engage and learn better in the classroom.
Our bills build on a proven and simple solution to filling the meal gap
that millions of children face every summer. Expanding this program
will be good for our kids, good for education, and good for the economy.
I want to thank Senator Murray for her leadership on the issue of
ending summer hunger.”
In San Diego County, over 90,000 students who benefit from
nutritious, affordable school meals during the academic year miss out on
similar meals during the summer.
“The summer is a time of year that many students look
forward to, but for too many children and families who rely on school
provided meals it can be an uncertain and stressful time as well. In my
home state of Washington, 1 in 6 kids live in a household that struggles
to put food on the table. We need to be doing more for these kids and
their families,” Senator Murray said. “Making sure children have
year-round access to healthy, nutritious meals is an essential component
of setting them up for success – at home, in school, and in life – and
the Stop Child Summer Hunger Act is a major step toward ensuring our
nation’s families have the support they need so that none of our kids
are left wondering where their next meal will come from. I’m proud to
work with Representative Davis on this important and pressing issue. We
simply cannot allow any children to miss out on vital nutrition and
continue to fall through the cracks.”
The Stop Child Summer Hunger Act expands on the successful
Summer EBT for Children demonstration project that has been piloted in
14 sites and 10 states and Indian Tribal Organizations. This pilot had
positive results, decreasing hunger among children by 33 percent.
An existing federal program, the Summer Food Service
Program (SFSP) attempts to fill the summer meals gap by providing
funding to nonprofit, government, and religious entities to serve food
in congregate settings to low-income children during summer breaks.
However, while some areas of the country see great success with the
SFSP, many barriers to participation in the program remain, including
unfamiliarity with the program or sites, lack of transportation, and
limited food distribution hours.
According to the Food Research and Action Center, in July
2017 three million children ate lunch on an average weekday at a summer
meal site—only a fraction of the 20 million low-income children who
participate in school lunch each day during the school year. Much of the
low participation is due to limited public funding available to support
summer programs for low-income children to attend, and as a result,
children around the country are more likely to be hungry during the
summer. The Stop Child Summer Hunger Act, in conjunction with the SFSP,
would ensure that children across the country don’t go hungry when
school is out.