Summary of the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC) Evaluation: Findings for Proof-of-Concept Year

The Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC), a demonstration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, aims to mitigate summer child food insecurity by leveraging existing electronic benefit transfer technologies used by the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In the first year of the demonstration (2011), based on 5,000 households in five sites, researchers found significant reductions in the prevalence of food insecurity and very low food security among children. The second year (2012) included 14 sites and approximately 27,000 households with eligible children in the evaluation.