Lack of coordination between CT agencies led to a delay in the EBT in summer

Thousands of families will not receive the additional food aid they were expecting for the summer until August because government agencies responsible for the program failed to adequately coordinate the June deadline.

Congress established the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (SUN Bucks) program through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 to provide eligible families with a one-time payment of $120 per child as supplemental food assistance. Connecticut was scheduled to launch its program in late June for the families of about 273,000 children.

But the introduction of the new program has taken longer than expected, said Christine Stuart, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Social Affairs. Payment of benefits is not expected until August.

“Summer EBT is a brand new program and, as with any program of this magnitude, it required extensive coordination with multiple government agencies,” Stuart said in a written statement. “This coordination took longer than expected and while we worked hard to minimize the impact to our customers, we recognize that we were not successful in doing so.”

[RELATED: CT delayed in giving out summer grocery benefit for kids]

The explanation for the delay comes amid calls from Connecticut lawmakers for DSS to release more information about the program's launch.

Last week, Senate Interim President Martin Looney (D-New Haven), Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) and Senator Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) issued a statement requesting more information about the multi-week delay.

“Families expecting these benefits in the summer will not be able to access them until their children are already preparing for the new school year,” the senators' statement said. “Delays and problems happen, but the lack of explanation about this change does not answer the questions our constituents have. The last-minute announcement will adversely impact thousands of families and increase food insecurity in our communities.”

Republican state Sen. Lisa Seminara of Avon also sent a letter to the state on June 25 asking for an explanation for the delay and for an explanation of how the agency had communicated with the public and when the money would be transferred.

DSS worked with the Connecticut State Department of Education, the Attorney General's Office, and the Office of Policy and Management to launch the program.

“DSS fully understands that this process did not proceed as intended, and the Commissioner apologizes to the families impacted by the delay,” Stuart said. “At this time, DSS is working tirelessly with our internal and external partners to expedite the process as quickly as possible to get these much-needed services to Connecticut families.”

The program aims to address food insecurity, which is often exacerbated for children during the summer when they do not receive meals at school.

Families in Connecticut are eligible for the summer program if they already receive certain food assistance or if their household income is less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level, the DSS website says.

Last month, Connecticut's 211 system received more than 17,700 calls from people needing food assistance, according to online data. Most were requests for help purchasing groceries.

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Anna Harden

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