Michigan gets third round of pandemic-related food assistance for children

The state of Michigan has approved a third round of Pandemic-EBT benefits for children whose access to nutritious school meals has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced.

About 90,000 children are eligible for these benefits because they learned remotely for at least part of the school year.

Students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 are eligible for these benefits if they meet certain criteria:

They qualify for free or reduced-price lunches at school;

They attended an in-person school; and

In-person learning is or wasn’t available for either a full or partial month

Each student gets $7.10 for each day the school is virtual or the student is absent because of COVID.

Benefits are retroactive to September and will be distributed through June.

Payments are made automatically, so families don’t need to apply to get the benefits.