GRIMES, Iowa — Lots of Iowa families accept and/or qualify for food assistance to help feed their children. Many of these are low-income families.
One of the programs Iowans rely on, like Grimes single-mother-of-four Kaydee Cuesta, will no longer be available in the summer of 2024.
"It was helpful to make sure that we were bridging the gap, and the kids were fed," Cuesta admitted.
That's because on Friday, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the state would not participate in a federal program that could make it easier for low-income families with children to afford food over the summer.
The program, the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (EBT) provided families with children, eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, $40 per child per month to buy food while school's out. Families would then receive funds via an EBT card in the child's name.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in an HHS press release Friday the summer food assistance program "don't provide long-term solutions... at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic."
In addition to the cited "childhood obesity epidemic," the state said the program would have been required to cover half of the administrative costs, an estimated $2.2 million in Iowa. Instead, the state plans to enhance existing childhood nutrition programs within the state, like SNAP benefits.
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"We're not lazy if we're being on it," Cuesta told Local 5 News. "We're not taking advantage of the system. We're real people and our kids still need food regardless of quote-unquote 'childhood obesity.'"
However, now without extra money to get her four daughters snacks or food when school's out and they're at the park on a sunny day, Cuesta is left looking elsewhere for food assistance, like food pantries, which are already seeing record need.