ARLINGTON, Va. (7News) — The federal government has announced a new permanent summer food program for low-income families, replacing a pandemic-era program that ran out of funding.

The program provides $120 for each of their school-aged children for the summer when schools are closed.

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“It’s called Summer EBT, which stands for electronic benefits transfer. And so basically, it’s a program that sends families a card that they can use over the summer to buy groceries,” said Kalyn Belsha, a reporter with Chalkbeat.

Thirty-five states, including D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, have “opted-in” to the program, reaching over 20 million school-aged children. But another 15 states have “opted out,” meaning 10 million kids in those states won’t be getting the federal food benefit over the summer.

“The other ones have all provided different reasons for why they’re not going to opt in this year. Some have said that they just didn’t have their systems up and running. They needed to do more on the tech side,” Belsha said. “And then some others for political reasons, just said that they didn’t want more federal aid.”

Those states may decide to opt in at a later date.

In the DMV, 1.4 million local kids will get federal food assistance, while states pay for the administrative costs.

Eligibility is based on income. Any child who would normally be eligible for SNAP and free and reduced-priced lunches at their school would be eligible for the Summer EBT program. This program would be in addition to food stamps and food benefits through the WIC program.

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