Dear Governor McMaster,
I hope this letter finds you, your staff and your family well.
As the President & CEO of Trident United Way, serving the counties of Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston, I am reaching out to you on behalf of our community and the children of South Carolina to discuss the implementation of the SummerEBT program in our state.
At Trident United Way, we are dedicated to improving access to healthy, consistent meals for individuals and families across our beautiful state. This is particularly critical for our children.
A recent report released by our United Way partner, United for ALICE® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), shows that the number of children living in financially insecure households in South Carolina continues to be systematically undercounted.
Using state and federal data sources, United for ALICE® found that more than half – 53%!-- of children in South Carolina live in households that are experiencing financial hardship.
This figure includes the 19% of families living below the Federal Poverty Level, but also includes an additional 34% of the population who are above the Federal Poverty Level who are working hard, yet not earning enough to afford the rising cost of basic necessities. This amounts to a total of 590,263 children across the state and ranks South Carolina 38th among all 50 states and DC.
The numbers clearly show that financial hardship touches all of us. Ensuring our children are fed is a bi-partisan issue that members of the General Assembly on both sides can surely get behind.
The United for ALICE® Children's Report also shows that having working adults in the household did NOT guarantee financial stability.
35% of households with two adults in the labor force were still below the ALICE® Threshold, meaning they are working, yet not earning enough to afford the cost of basic necessities.
Nearly all of these children- 94%- live in a household with at least one working adult.
As we know you are well aware, children in families experiencing financial hardship are more likely to lack stable housing, quality childcare and early education, be able to afford private health insurance or have high-speed internet at home. Reliable food access is also a regular concern.
Summer EBT benefits will come in the form of pre-loaded cards that families can use to purchase groceries. Beginning in the summer of 2024, families could receive $40 per eligible child, per month, for a total of $120 to use for nutritious food. These benefits work together with other available FNS nutrition assistance programs, such as summer feeding sights, SNAP, and WIC to help safeguard that children have access to food once school is out.
Under SummerEBT families will have additional resources to purchase food at their local grocery store or farmers’ market. While there is an administrative cost to the state, $3 million, we will draw down more than $65 million dollars that will go into the local economy. SNAP benefits have a multiplier of 1.7, which means for every dollar spent it generates approximately 1.7 dollars into the SC economy, ensuring we are not only taking care of our most valuable resource, our children, but we are also helping to bolster our communities who are experiencing the greatest need.
We respectfully urge you to consider the implementation of the Summer EBT program in South Carolina, and submit a letter of intent to the USDA by the December 31, 2024 deadline. It is in our collective interest to ensure that all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, have the opportunity to grow into healthy, educated, thriving adults.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue and for your ongoing leadership in our state.
UNITED is the Way,
David (D.J.) Hampton II, J.D.
President & CEO
Trident United Way