Idaho has decided not to participate in a federal program that would have provided $14.8 million to feed low-income students during the summer, a decision that impacts about 123,000 children in need, according to the Food Research and Action Center.

  • doc@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Sounds like government dysfunction rather than a conscious policy decision.

    It’s unclear who ultimately decided Idaho would reject the funding and why. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, one of two agencies that would have had to implement P-EBT, pinned the decision on the Idaho State Department of Education. The Department of Education blames the administration of former Superintendent Sherri Ybarra, who was voted out last year. Ybarra did not respond to requests for comment.

    Idaho used these funds before, but even then limited it to kids under 6 years because anything more was too hard to administer (my summary).