Thousands of families that receive 3SquaresVT and Reach Up benefits will get an extra check in the mail this month to help with expenses during the pandemic.
A one-time payment of $286 will be directly distributed to 22,500 families that are eligible for the state’s food stamps program, 3SquaresVT, by check. The money will be issued to households in mid-December.
The Vermont Treasurer’s Office will distribute the $6.4 million in aid from federal Coronavirus Relief Funds allocated to the state.
An additional $1.3 million in federal relief will be distributed to 3,000 households in the state’s Reach Up program. Eligible families that apply for the funding will receive a one-time payment of $432.
Tricia Tyo, deputy commissioner for economic services for the Department for Children and Families, said the money will go to families that were excluded from receiving extra funds earlier in the pandemic because they were already receiving the state’s maximum benefit.
“That means they actually have more expenses or are living deeper in poverty than people who received those earlier increases,” Tyo said.
In March, the federal government allowed states to give the maximum emergency allotment to any food stamp recipients not already receiving the maximum allotment for their household size.
Tyo said that’s exactly what Vermont did, but it left thousands of people ineligible for increased benefits, even though they likely needed extra money most.
Tyo said the Legislature wanted to rectify that, and decided to use some of the coronavirus relief money to send a one-time benefit both to families that missed out entirely on the increase, and families who were near the maximum benefit, and were allowed only small increases ($50 or less).
The increase in Reach Up benefits, for Vermonters with children living in poverty, has a slightly different process for determining who will receive aid. Families will be eligible for the extra check if they had increased expenses related to the pandemic — for things like face masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning suppliers, higher utilities costs due to working and studying at home, higher child care costs, or higher health care costs.
Of the 22,500 households receiving extra 3SquaresVT benefits, 1,620 will also get a check from Reach Up. Another 7,200 are elderly Vermonters, and 11,900 are also receiving fuel benefits.
Tyo said she hopes it’s enough to get Vermonters through the hard times.
“It was what could be done in the moment with some of the extra coronavirus relief funds,” she said. “We’re trying to target people that didn’t receive any benefit increase from what the federal government had allowed. It’s not a lot, but it’s something, and that will help.”
