The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNS research has learned through more than a decade of study.

The purpose of this pilot was to test possible methods that could lead to valid estimations of the number of meals served by family day care homes. The estimated number of meals served can be used to develop estimates of over- and under-counts of meal claims that result in erroneous payments.