Contact: Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald, CDF-SRO Director, ofitzgerald@childrensdefense.org, (601) 953-5792
JACKSON, MS—For the second consecutive year, Mississippi state leaders have chosen to deny vital food assistance to children and young people facing hunger during the summer months.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that Mississippi has opted out of the agency’s “SUN Bucks” program, also known as Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT). This federally funded initiative provides eligible families with $120 per child to help purchase groceries during the summer when school meal programs are unavailable.
In most states, school-age children qualify for SUN Bucks if their households participate in programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). Children are also eligible if they meet income requirements for free or reduced-price school meals or attend a school participating in the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program.
The decision could impact hundreds of thousands of people in the state. Last year, United States Census Bureau data showed 43 percent of Mississippians under the age of 18 were eligible for SNAP assistance in 2020.
While Mississippi rejects the program, children in 38 other states, including neighboring Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas, plan to participate in the program this summer.
CDF-Southern Regional Office Director, Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald, released the following statement:
“At Children’s Defense Fund-Southern Regional Office, we are committed toward working to ensure all youth in Mississippi enjoy regular, nourishing meals and active lives, marked by positive social adjustment. Unfortunately, here in Mississippi, almost a quarter of our state’s children do not have reliable access to food.
“That is why it is unacceptable our state, the poorest in America, has once again turned down federal assistance to support its youngest residents. The summer months are particularly hard on young families who work tirelessly to juggle the costs of child care with keeping their children fed as Mississippi also has some of the lowest wages in the country. It can become nearly impossible for people to take care of all of their needs. Our lawmakers should be doing everything to support the people who are the backbone of the state. Instead, they sit silent, or hurl offensive remarks, like Governor Tate Reeves did last year when he said this program was an attempt to ‘expand the welfare state.’
Both the Governor and Mississippi Department of Human Services must be held accountable and actively serve the people of this state. Our young people deserve to live healthy, fulfilling lives. Mississippi’s leaders must make it their priority to ensure our state’s young people get that chance.”