SNAP benefits are now available to families whose children are entitled to free and reduced school meals.

The United States Department of Agriculture. USA It approved Texas on Monday to distribute the benefits of the additional emergency nutritional assistance program to families with children eligible for free and discounted school meals, the US senator. USA John Cornyn

, R-Texas, announced in a declaration.

The program, known as the pandemic benefits electronic transfer, aims to replace the meals that children normally receive at school. About two-thirds of Texas schoolchildren are eligible to receive free, discounted meals at school, said Cornyn.

Each child should be eligible to receive about $ 285 in benefits, said Rachel Cooper, a senior policy analyst at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, a leftist group of experts.

Families who are already receiving SNAP should have this amount automatically reflected in their account. Those who do not benefit from SNAP should receive a Pandemic-EBT card, which works like a debit card, by mail after submitting their application, said Cooper.