The pandemic is hitting Florida families harder than those elsewhere. Food is scarce.

Children in Florida are faring worse than the national average, according to a new report that examined the pandemic’s impact on families in all 50 states.

Housing stability in particular appears grim for Florida families with children. Nearly a quarter of households — 23% — indicated slight or no confidence they would make the next rent or mortgage payment on time, compared to 18% nationally.

Florida families with children also fared worse in food security and healthcare, according to the KIDS COUNT report published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation Monday. The report drew data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, weekly surveys measuring the social and economic impact of COVID-19 on American households. Data for the KIDS COUNT report takes a snapshot for a one-month period between mid-September and mid-October.

“On economic measures and healthcare Florida is typically toward the back of the pack, but there had been progress in a lot of these areas before the pandemic,” said Norín Dollard, Florida KIDS COUNT director and professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of South Florida.

That progress has been all but wiped out by COVID-19, Dollard added.

More people have begun to show up at the doors of Lotus House, a Miami shelter for women and children, said the nonprofit’s president Constance Collins.

The site has added about 25 more beds since last year and is now operating at capacity with more than 500 women and kids staying there nightly. While the numbers vary, a little more than half of that is typically children.

“Many people who were living on the edge have tipped over,” Collins said. “We have a strong hospitality-based economy in South Florida and the industry has been hit very hard. We definitely have seen an increase in calls and people coming to our front door since the beginning of the pandemic.”

When it comes to food security, 16% of Florida households with children said they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat, according to the report. The national average was 14%.

‘Tapped out’: South Florida groups feeding the hungry are running out of money

It’s no surprise to Gil Zepeda, marketing director for the nonprofit Farm Share.

“There are children going hungry tonight. That’s an epidemic going on right now in the state of Florida that people aren’t looking at because we’re focused on COVID-19 numbers and what’s going on in politics,” Zepeda said.

The food boxes Farm Share gives out often come with baby products including diapers and formula. Zepeda has noticed a growing number of children in cars that wait for hours at the nonprofit’s drive-thru food sites.

With more kids home from school this year due to the pandemic, food insecurity has grown worse, said Paco Veléz, CEO of Feeding South Florida. The issue gets compounded during the holidays, he added.

“We see that every year, June through August are really difficult for families because kids are home from school,” Veléz said. “That’s something that our families go through every summer. Now we’re looking at another holiday break in December.”

When it comes to healthcare, 15% of Florida households with children reported not having any coverage compared to 12% nationally. Since the start of the pandemic in March, the social services helpline 2-1-1 has reported a skyrocketing call volume, with a 150% call increase at one point.

Calls have tapered off since the community began to reopen during the summer, according to the helpline that’s funded in part by The Children’s Trust. Healthcare referrals, food and housing, have topped the list of reasons why clients call since April. From April to June alone, the agency received 4,902 calls for healthcare referrals.

The report commends expanding access to unemployment insurance and eliminating barriers to accessing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF. It also calls on Congress and state legislatures to provide relief grants for center and home-based child care providers to survive the pandemic.

“Something has to be done in order to keep families afloat because the cost of doing nothing is much higher than the cost of keeping families going and employed,” Dollard said.

Bianca Padró Ocasio contributed to this article.