Website is for recipients of SNAP, TANF and Medicaid

Floridians who get food, cash or health care assistance through the government now need to navigate a new website.

The Florida Department of Children and Families is launching a new “My Access Portal” for assistance with SNAP, TANF and Medicaid programs.

The website is MyACCESS.myflfamilies.com.

The agency says the new platform is more modern and user-friendly, works better on mobile devices, streamlines document uploading, and should make getting government assistance faster.

However, Floridians will need to create a new account and link up their current programs, and also use a two-step verification system for security.

DCF says the new system should not affect any of the benefits Floridians are currently enrolled in.

Asheena Moses, outreach and advocacy manager for the nonprofit Florida Impact to End Hunger, said the new website seems to be more convenient for users.

“They’ll let you know, ‘Hey you’re missing a proof of income, address, or proof of identification,’ and then you can just send those documents right there online. It makes things so much easier,” said Moses, who works with people who use these services.

Moses also said the new two-step verification process uses an email address or cellphone to verify who you are.

“This may reduce people getting hacked or being defrauded,” Moses said.

If you have any questions, more information and video tutorials are available through the DCF website.

You can also call the Florida customer call center at 1-850-300-4323.

 

 

Calling all Hunger Advocates!

It’s time to raise our voices to protect the highly effective and successful WIC (Women, Infants, Children) program!

Unless immediate action is taken by Congress in November, WIC will experience a funding shortfall early next year—causing many women and children to be waitlisted for the program and/or their benefits cut. Unfortunately, at this time, both the House and Senate have failed to provide enough funding for WIC to protect eligible women and children.

WIC has experienced an 18.3 percent increase in child participation since 2020 and the program is expected to serve as many as 7 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children in 2024. Currently, there are no existing bills in the House or Senate that will fund WIC at the level it needs to serve all the women and children who apply. As a result, additional funding is needed ASAP to help the women and children who rely on WIC assistance.

With the rising food costs and increased program participation, it is more critical than ever that WIC is fully funded to provide nutrition assistance, formula, and breastfeeding counseling to those when desperately need it.

Take Action Now!

We can’t let this happen! Join us on Thursday, November 2^nd for a WIC Emergency Day of Action. You can join the fight against hunger by:

• Posting on social media (Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) using hashtags #WIC and #FUNDWIC
• Calling Congress (House and Senate)! Use MomRising’s call-in page here.
• Signing MomRising’s petition here.
• Sending letters supporting WIC and calling for immediate action!

Find Your Elected Officials Here

Here is the message we need to send Congress:

Take immediate action to avoid a WIC emergency. Include a down payment of additional funding for WIC in the next Continuing Resolution in November and fully fund the program to allow more eligible women/children to participate.

Thank you for joining Florida Impact and standing up to protect this important program!

The Food Research & Action Center’s (FRAC) latest report shows that afterschool meal programs are struggling to meet the needs of children as pandemic era waivers have ended and as costs have skyrocketed. FRAC, the nation’s leading anti-hunger organization, has found that participation in afterschool meal programming has dropped substantially for the first time since 2010.

The Afterschool Nutrition Programs provide nutritious meals and snacks to children as well as educational and enrichment programming after the school day ends. The Afterschool Snack Programs began in 1998, and suppers became available nationwide in 2010 through the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

FRAC’s report, “Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation,” analyzes the noticeable changes in afterschool meal participation, particularly comparing October 2021 and October 2022. The report found that over 1.15 million children received afterschool suppers through the Afterschool Nutrition Programs on an average school day in October 2022, reaching approximately 339,360 fewer children compared to October 2021.

Conversely, participation in afterschool meal programming was relatively stable during the pandemic, increasing 2 percent in 2020 and 3 percent in 2021, when the USDA issued waivers for all schools to participate and addressed operational challenges.

The pandemic-era waivers were critical in eliminating the barrier to participate in the afterschool meal programming and eased the burden of operating it. As a result, it allowed schools, local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations to effectively operate the Afterschool Nutrition Programs during the pandemic.

Only 38,034 sites served afterschool suppers or snacks in 2022, a significant drop of 5,089 sites from 2021 since pandemic-era waivers have ended. In 2022, sites could only operate in high-poverty communities, limiting access to suppers and snacks for millions of children who need them.

Now, with a return to pre-pandemic operations, many afterschool programs and meal sponsors are struggling with staffing shortages, increased food prices, and operational challenges. As a result, many programs have been closed, forced to limit capacity, or not been able to recover at all.

The drop in participation highlights the urgent need to reverse the concerning downward trend that started with the end of the pandemic waivers and support. FRAC’s report has highlighted the critical need to grow the Afterschool Meal Programs and recover lost ground to better serve the children and families who rely on afterschool suppers. Efforts to increase funding and expand meal programming for afterschool meals needs to be a priority to create a solid foundation to meet the needs of children, youth, and families.

Expanding Access to Afterschool Meals

In their report, FRAC noted that more than 1.6 million children missed the opportunity for a nutritious meal as a result of states failing to use federal funding. In particular, four states (Florida, Georgia, New York, and Texas) missed out on more than $6 million each. When states fail to take advantage of these funds, children and families lose nutritious meals that keep hunger at bay.

According to the Afterschool Alliance, there are 24.7 million children who are not in an afterschool program but would be enrolled if a program were available to them. Afterschool programs are an important platform not only to ensure children fed but also safe and engaged when the school day ends.

FRAC recommends the following way for Congress, states, and localities to support Afterschool Nutrition Programs:

• Streamline and simplify Afterschool Meal Programs by eliminating duplicative, burdensome paperwork
• Increase funding for afterschool programming
• Lower the area eligibility threshold to reach more children
• Support and expand year-round participation
• Mandate state participation and allocate funding
• Recruit more school districts
• Serve suppers instead of (or in addition) to snacks
• Improve meal quality and appeal
• Reduce travel or time barriers

Advocate to Strengthen and Protect Afterschool Meal Programs!

Take action and be a voice against hunger! Afterschool Nutrition Programs are a powerful platform to fight childhood hunger and food insecurity in Florida. Support the children who need nutritious afterschool snacks and suppers to keep hunger at bay. Alleviating hunger in children should remain our highest priority and championed at every level! Get vocal and speak to your elected representatives!

Find Your Elected Officials Here

Download FRAC’s full report here or visit frac.org for more information.

On September 26, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it is expanding the availability of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). This new ruling provides an additional 3,000 school districts in high-need areas the opportunity to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost.

The new ruling will be effective as of October 26, 2023, lowering the eligibility threshold from 40 percent to 25 percent and increasing millions of students’ access to healthy school meals. Newly eligible schools that want to participate this school year are encouraged to work with their state agency to submit a waiver to the USDA.

What is CEP?

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) has been an instrumental tool in fighting child hunger. CEP allows the nation’s high-need schools to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students, regardless of their families’ income levels. Since the program’s creation in 2011, CEP has helped more than 33,000 schools with their school meal operations and served more than 16 million children.

CEP provides many benefits, including:

• Eliminating school meal debt
• Increasing food and nutrition security
• Reducing the social stigma for students who eat for free or at reduced prices
• Lowering food costs for families
• Increasing student participation in school breakfast and lunch programs
• Simplifying school meal program operations by not requiring household applications

By allowing more schools to participate in the CEP program, the Biden administration will provide schools the flexibility to offer free schools meals and ensure students have the healthy food they need to succeed.

Florida Impact applauds the Biden administration for strengthening CEP and expanding children’s access to free school meals!

When it comes to the school environment, nutritious food is just as essential for students as books and teachers. Expanding community eligibility improves the lives and well-being of millions of children. Join us in celebrating this latest ruling and help us continue to champion the expansion of CEP so more children in need can access healthy school meals.

For more information and materials on CEP, visit Florida Impact’s CEP Toolkit page here!

Hi! My name is Isabella Escobar and I am one of the two interns with Florida Impact’s Farm to Leon County Schools initiative — also referred to as “Farm to Fort” when working within the Fort Braden community.

I am originally from Orlando and currently live in Tallahassee for school.

This is my senior year at Florida State University. My major is Dietetics and my intended minor is Child Development.

I’m on the path to becoming a Registered Dietitian and through this internship have had the opportunity to do work I am passionate about. I have been excited to offer nutrition education to the Fort Braden community.

My goal is to serve women and children as a Registered Dietitian in a community and clinical nutrition setting. I would like to expand my work to low-income communities and work in maternal nutrition.

The Farm to Fort initiative has allowed me to work with the community to learn about local produce, healthy recipes, SNAP benefits, and much more.

My favorite part has been working with children one-on-one to hear their experiences with food.

I already feel I have received so much from the internship, but I am excited to see what more projects we accomplish.

— Isabella