Oregon, which was already on track to pay up to $1,100 to nearly all low-income and some not-low-income children to help them afford food, will pay those children and some others an additional $389.

The federal government has approved an additional $167 million to allow Oregon to make those $389-per-child outlays to families to help with grocery bills, state officials announced Wednesday, Sept. 1. At least 430,000 children are expected to receive the additional benefit, they said. The additional infusion of federal cash will boost the maximum per-child payments to nearly $1,500.

The payments are intended to make up for missed school meals that children would have received for free last school year if schools had been operating normally and for free summer meals they may have missed in June, July and August. The payments go to all students who were eligible to eat free meals at their school or daycare last year.

All Oregon families with children enrolled in public schools will get an additional break on food costs this school year, provided their school serves meals: Every child can eat school breakfast and lunch at no charge.

That’s because every Oregon district, like those nationwide, can provide free school meals to any student who wants one and get federal reimbursement under a special pandemic-related provision of the federal school nutrition program.

The payments to children to make up for missed meals from last year will come directly to their homes.

For children whose families are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the money has been and will be transferred onto their Oregon Trail card near the end of July, August, September and October. Other children whose families make too much money to qualify for food stamps but who were eligible for free school meals last year have been or will be mailed special debit cards with the child’s name on them.

The money loaded onto those cards can be spent on any of the wide array of foods and beverages that people are allowed to purchase with food stamps.

Children who were enrolled in certain schools are being provided the money regardless of their family’s income. That’s because hundreds of Oregon schools offer free meals to all their students, under a federal school meals rule known as “community eligibility.” If a school has at least 40% of its students in certain state programs including food stamps or foster care, then every student is served free meals without any families having to fill out school meal-related paperwork.

The first round of payments began in July and topped out at $408 per student.

The state announced Sept. 1 that families will receive an additional $129 per child in September and $260 in October.

Officials said that families of school-aged children with incomes low enough to qualify for free schools meals that have not applied and been approved the program for the coming year can still receive the $389 retroactive food payments for the summer if they apply online at the Oregon Department of Education website by Saturday, Sept. 4.