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New York City families eligible for $120 per child in summer food benefits have just a few more days to apply.
As the Sept. 4 application deadline looms, millions of dollars could be left on the table for the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, program, which aims to help low-income families cover costs for meals usually provided at school. (Families can apply online and check their income eligibility here.)
The 2025 Summer EBT program is expected to provide more than $250 million in food assistance to an estimated 2.2 million low-income, school-aged children, said officials from the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. That’s roughly the amount the summer program provided last year, the first year of the program.
While most of the money is sent to families automatically, some families must apply to receive the benefits, and as of Aug. 25, about 12% of that money had yet to be issued, with $194 million in benefits sent to 1.6 million of the state’s school-age children. And of the money that had been issued, many families have yet to touch the benefits: As June 18 about $123 million had been issued, and 24% of those dollars have still not been redeemed.
Some observers wondered if some eligible families, particularly from immigrant households, were too afraid to use or apply for the benefits because of the federal government’s immigration crackdown.
“It’s unclear at the moment whether the main driver is immigrants leaving the U.S. or immigrants in the U.S. increasingly afraid to take up benefits for their children, most of whom are U.S. citizens,” said Jennifer Laird, an associate professor of sociology at Lehman College in the Bronx.
The foreign-born population is going down, and historically more than 10% of eligible households are headed by an adult who is a non-citizen, she noted. Additionally, immigrants are increasingly afraid to sign up for the benefits, she said. Even naturalized citizens, Laird added, now fear denaturalization, and that could affect enrollment in benefit programs as well.
The food assistance program is especially helpful as concerns about childhood hunger increase. President Donald Trump’s budget bill passed by Congress last month significantly cuts access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
“At a time when federally funded nutrition programs like SNAP are under attack in Washington, Governor Hochul has been laser-focused on making New York more affordable for families across the state who are struggling to make ends meet,” Darren O’Sullivan, a spokesperson for the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance said in a statement.
Though most families — particularly recipients of SNAP, Temporary Assistance, or Medicaid — automatically receive the funds, some still need to apply. State officials said out of last year’s 2.1 million recipients, roughly 4,000 received the benefit through the application process.
State officials have tried to raise awareness of summer EBT through a social media campaign, working with local community groups, and text messages sent to recipients, including reminders to check their cards when benefits are issued. Officials said they sent three rounds of text messages to more than 707,000 recipients with such reminders. (Families have 122 days to spend summer EBT dollars after the state issues their cards.)
Officials also said they provided EBT information to schools.
Last year as well, nearly a quarter of families who received summer EBT last year had not spent the dollars at least two months after being issued the money, said David Rubel, an education consultant who closely tracks food benefit usage.
“If a family didn’t spend anything by now it’s likely one of the following happened: They lost or misplaced the old card they got last summer; they were issued a new card but it went to a wrong address, or the family moved,” Rubel wrote in an email. “Schools can help here with alerting families that the summer EBT cards were issued new money or new cards were mailed out.”
Correction: This article initially stated a higher number of families were eligible for summer EBT through the application process. About 99% last year received it automatically.
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy atazimmer@chalkbeat.org.
