Indiana and Tennessee opted out of Summer EBT, which gives families grocery support when schools close for summer.

This essay was originally published by the award-winning journalism nonprofit Capital & Main. This article is co-published here with permission.

Last year, Stephanie Couch had some help getting through the summer months when her two daughters, ages 11 and 14, were out of school. Both girls receive free breakfast and lunch at school, but those meals disappear during the summer. In 2024, the Tennessee resident received Summer EBT — short for electronic benefit transfer — which loads $120 for each child onto a card that parents can use to buy groceries to fill that gap. “It meant a lot,” she said. She was able to buy all of the fruits and vegetables her growing children n

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