Tennessee has been approved to begin operating the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program, which will provide meal assistance to families of children eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Meant to assist families with children who would not be receiving free breakfast and lunch at school, benefits have been slow to reach families. And while a partnership with the YMCA has steadily provided student meals since schools closed in March, the most recent data shows that only a fraction of students who typically receive meals at school got them at the distribution centers.