Food Assistance for Families with Children
Programs to help ensure no child goes hungry
Families with children have access to multiple food programs that can be used together — WIC for young children and mothers, school meals, summer feeding programs, SNAP, and more.
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WIC (Women, Infants & Children)
WIC provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support for pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under 5. Income limit is 185% FPL. Available regardless of immigration status.
Learn more about WIC →Free School Meals
Free breakfast and lunch for children in families at or below 130% FPL. Automatically qualifies if your family receives SNAP or TANF. Many schools now offer free meals to ALL students through the Community Eligibility Provision.
Learn more about school meals →Summer Meals + Summer EBT
When school is out, children under 18 can get free meals at open summer sites — no ID or income proof needed. Summer EBT adds $120 per child for groceries, automatically enrolled if eligible for school meals.
Learn more about summer meals →SNAP for Families
Monthly grocery benefits on an EBT card. A family of 4 may receive up to $973/month. Childcare costs can be deducted from income when determining eligibility.
Learn more about SNAP →Related reading
How families actually stack these programs
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What to expect at your first WIC appointment
The step-by-step first visit, from intake and anthropometric check to eWIC card and food package selection.
10 min read
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Public charge and food assistance in 2026
For mixed-status families: which programs count, which don’t, and how to safely apply for kids who are U.S. citizens.
9 min read
Use All Programs Together
Your family can use WIC + SNAP + free school meals + summer meals + food pantries ALL at the same time. There is no limit on stacking programs. If you qualify for SNAP, your children automatically qualify for free school meals.
Research atlas
Child Poverty in America: County-Level Atlas
Child poverty is the strongest structural predictor of child food insecurity. Our new atlas maps child poverty rates for every U.S. county, sourced from the Census Bureau's SAIPE program — the same dataset used to allocate Title I school funding.
Open the Child Poverty AtlasResearch atlas
Summer EBT / SUN Bucks Coverage Atlas: Summer Without School Meals
When school is out, 30 million children lose access to free and reduced-price meals. Summer EBT delivers $120 per child in opt-in states — but eleven states opted out of the 2025 plan year. Our atlas maps eligible children and forfeited benefit dollars by state and county.
Open the Summer EBT AtlasResearch atlas
WIC Coverage Gap Atlas: Who's Enrolled vs. Who's Eligible
Nationally, about 4 in 10 people eligible for WIC are not enrolled — nearly 4 million pregnant women, infants, and young children missing out on free nutrition support. Our atlas maps coverage rate, unserved population, and low-income children under 6 for all 50 states and DC.
Open the WIC Coverage AtlasResearch atlas
School Hunger / Free Lunch Atlas: County-Level NSLP & CEP
How many children in your county are certified for free and reduced-price lunch? How many schools serve universal free meals via Community Eligibility? Our School Hunger Atlas aggregates NCES Common Core of Data records and Census SAIPE poverty to answer both at the county level for all 3,142 U.S. counties.
Open the School Hunger AtlasKey Resources
Related Programs
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my family use multiple food programs at the same time?
How do I get free school meals for my children?
What is Summer EBT?
Who qualifies for WIC?
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