“At this time, the FDACS does not have the necessary infrastructure and legislative directive to administer the Summer EBT Program,” Colin said.ĭCF does have the infrastructure as the state agency in charge of running SNAP and providing customer support services, she said. In a letter to Washington in July, Vianka Colin of the agriculture department said her agency wasn’t “the best equipped” to run the program, and that DCF would be better suited to the task. This would be a huge missed opportunity.” Ron DeSantis decided not to enlist in a pandemic food aid program for about 2 million children from low-income families that would have brought Florida $820 million.Īnd with one in seven homes short on food to feed their families, Beard said, agencies like hers “are looking for as many tools in the toolbox as we can find.

It opted out of a COVID-19 food benefits program two years before it expired in March, costing the state $5 billion. Those include free and reduced lunch programs at school, SNAP benefits to families who qualify, and Summer Break Spot programs administered by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.įlorida has a record of culling the ranks of those receiving food assistance. It said the state already runs programs to make sure “children have access to nutritious meals.” Spokespeople for the governor, Senate president and House speaker did not reply to requests for comment.ĭCF was first asked for comment on Monday but did not respond until McManus’ email Thursday. The state budget has no money approved for such an expense. The state would have to provide a 50% match for administrative costs to participate, which comes out to about $12 million a year, Beard said. “Not only does this hurt nearly 2 million children in our state but it also disregards the economic boost this would have provided many hardworking families,” said Beard, who added that her organization had been in conversations with House and Senate leaders about the program.

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