At least dozens of Scott County parents who were sent unsolicited food assistance cards this summer are now receiving letters threatening referral to debt collection if they don’t pay back the state within 30 days.
Families received EBT cards earlier this summer worth $120 per child in their household, but are now being told by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services that the full amount on the card must be paid back to the state, whether or not they actually used the card.
A copy of one letter sent to a family in Georgetown last week indicated their receipt of an EBT card was “an Agency Error,” as they are ineligible for benefits.
The letter adds that if the family does not send the form and a payment to the state within 30 days, “we will send your claim to other agencies or the federal government for collection. If this happens, you may be charged collection fees.”
Summer EBT is part of a federal program supporting low-income families who lose access to free school meals over the summer months.
A spokesperson for Scott County Public Schools said Thursday they were told the error was caused by a "system glitch” in the Kentucky Department of Education, and was not caused by the school district. A spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education has not responded to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services did not respond to Kentucky Public Radio emails over the course of three days, seeking information about the debt collection notices and asking why the cabinet resorted to that instead of canceling the card accounts.
After the publication of this story, cabinet spokesperson Kendra Steele wrote in an email that 1,462 families who were ineligible received EBT cards in error due to “inaccurate information provided by the Kentucky Department of Education.”
“We’re told only approximately 700 cards issued incorrectly have been used, totaling $76,267.42 of benefits spent,” Steele wrote. “We are taking steps to notify all families involved and are committed to working with families and federal partners to resolve the issue.”
Steele did not immediately respond to follow-up questions asking if 1,462 letters demanding repayment were sent out, and if those parents still have to make a payment within 30 days in order to avoid being referred to debt collection. KPR also asked if there were families affected outside of Scott County.
In a Facebook group of Georgetown parents, nearly 40 came forward to detail a similar ordeal. They filled out an income reporting form at the request of their kids’ school, then were surprised to receive an EBT card in the mail this summer, as they assumed they weren’t eligible. The letters from the state demanding repayment then started to appear in their mailboxes last week.
Many indicated that they never used the cards, saying it was unjust for the state to still demand repayment. Others used their cards only after checking with the state to confirm if they were actually eligible to use them. Some parents with multiple children indicated they owed $360 or $480.
Jennifer Lee of Georgetown is one of the parents who received an unsolicited EBT card this summer, though she has yet to receive a letter demanding repayment to the state. She said she assumed her family didn’t qualify, but called the state to verify, only to be told that they were eligible to use it.
“We talked to the manager, and (they said) ‘no, everything looks good, you should have received it, and you're good to use the funds,’” Lee said. “So I just didn't think anything else of it. I thought, well, they're gonna give me $120 to spend on food for my kids, and I'm gonna do that.”
While it wouldn’t be a major inconvenience for her family to repay the funds, she noted “there are multiple families on (the Facebook group) that that might not necessarily be the case. There's people here commenting, I've got two kids, I've got three kids.”
Renee Holmes of Scott County Schools said in an email Thursday that the school district has not been told by the Kentucky Department of Education how many families have been affected by the error and sent debt collection notices.
“Based on information provided to us by the Kentucky Department of Education, there was a system glitch when KDE generated the list of recipients and they are working through the situation now,” Holmes wrote.
“We understand this is concerning for families. Based on the information we have received, this was not an issue caused by Scott County Schools. As a result, we have been asked to direct families to the local Department of Community Based Services (DCBS) office. The phone number is 855-306-8959.”
**Update: This story was updated after publication with information provided by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
