40 other states got it together to feed hungry kids this summer. Why didn’t Missouri? | Opinion

Missouri doesn’t have the greatest track record of providing for its poorest residents. So it is not surprising — but deeply disappointing — that the state government has begged off participation in a federal program that would have helped feed thousands of hungry schoolchildren during this year’s summer break from school.

The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program would provide a $120 EBT card to every child who participated in the free or reduced lunch program at their schools during the 2022-23 school year.

Forty states are participating in the program this year. Missouri is not.

Officials say they didn’t have the infrastructure in place to make the plan work this summer, and that they’re aiming to be ready for possible implementation in future years.

Whether they can do so will say something about either the competence of Missouri governance or the state’s commitment to serving its most vulnerable residents — or perhaps both.

“It’s incredibly frustrating,” said Christine Woody, food security policy manager at Empower Missouri, an advocacy organization. “In Missouri, that’s hundreds of thousands of kids who could have gotten the money to help their families when they’re all home from school.”

Nationally, the P-EBT program launched in 2020 as a way to provide meals to children who could no longer eat at school after COVID-19 lockdowns began. Congress has extended the program several times. Until now, it has been a temporary effort enacted in response to an emergency. Next summer, though, it will become a permanent program.

WIll Missouri be ready? Recent history offers reasons for doubt.

As the nonprofit Missouri Independent has reported, the state struggled mightily to provide the P-EBT benefits in previous years. The program was supposed to pay out a benefit of $391 per child during the summer of 2022. Missouri just started distributing that aid — extremely belatedly — only last month. Really.

Most other states, naturally, finished distributing the 2022 aid by the end of that year. Late aid is arguably better than no aid, perhaps, but the delay was distressing to the many families who were waiting for the assistance.

To be fair, administering the P-EBT program has been administratively difficult for many states. The program requires schools, education departments and social service agencies to coordinate information. It’s a challenging and technically complex task.

“Centralized databases for this kind of information were very uncommon, and departments of education were not set up to collect and monitor these types of data,” the Urban Institute’s Elaine Waxman told The Washington Post last year.

So Missouri isn’t the only state to struggle with the demands of the new program. It is, however, one of the few to actually opt out this summer rather than find a solution. That means forgoing, by one count, roughly $42 million in federal aid that could help more than 300,000 children.

“This is unacceptable,” the Missouri House Democratic Caucus said on Twitter. “Other states can figure this out for their families. There’s no reason Missouri shouldn’t be able to as well.”

We agree. These stumbles raise questions about whether Missouri agencies aren’t as capable as their peers in other states — or whether helping poor Missourians simply isn’t a high priority for the state’s Republican leaders.

Empower Missouri’s Woody said state agencies responsible for P-EBT suffer from a lack of funding, staffing and communication. “The whole point is that the outdated systems are why these kids aren’t getting fed,” she said.

She is, however, optimistic that Missouri officials are working to be ready for next summer.

“I’m hopeful we can hold them to that,” Woody said. “This is not going away. Missouri kids deserve this benefit, just like Illinois kids or New York kids or all these other kids who are getting this support.”

That’s right. Missouri kids deserve to be just as well-fed as kids in neighboring states. Do our leaders believe that? They have a year to demonstrate that they do. The clock is ticking.