Gaps emerge in efforts to help provide food for school children during the coronavirus pandemic

Oatmeal yes, eggs no: Gaps emerge in U.S. anti-hunger push for children When the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of U.S. schools a year ago, Congress took action to ensure that low-income families whose children received free meals at school would have money to buy food on their own. Andy Sullivan U.S.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - When the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of U.S. schools a year ago, Congress took action to ensure that low-income families whose children received free meals at school would have money to buy food on their own.

But nobody told AmberLee McCann.

The single mother, who cares for foster children along with her two sons, quickly ran through her savings after she quit her jobs at a veterinary practice and a real estate firm because she has underlying health issues and feared catching COVID-19, and money was running low. Trips to the grocery store became an exercise in triage: yes to oatmeal, no to fresh fruit and eggs. One gallon of milk every two weeks, rather than every four days.

McCann, 39, found out about the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program in October, after it had expired. She ultimately was able to secure about $750 in benefits, roughly half of what she calculated she was eligible to receive.

Congress over the past year approved nearly $6 trillion in spending to battle a pandemic that has killed roughly 550,000 Americans and thrown millions of people out of work. It included hundreds of billions of dollars in unemployment aid, welfare spending and direct payments to help people weather the crisis.

Lawmakers loosened guidelines to make it easier for people to qualify for assistance, allowing states to screen applicants over the phone or internet, rather than in person.

Still, the ranks of the hungry in the United States have grown. Roughly 12% of households with children reported not having enough to eat in February, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, up from 8% before COVID-19 emerged.U

Advocates said the pandemic made clear that welfare programs too often set up barriers for those who need help the most.

“It was frustrating, it was burdensome, and it made an already difficult situation even more difficult for many people,” said Pamela Herd, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University.

Much federal aid is filtered through state governments, and caseloads have varied considerably from state to state....