In the time of the ongoing pandemic, things became difficult to the length of some families not being able to provide food and other personal needs. Well, to help families in this period, the Pandemic EBT was initiated and in this article, I’ll take you through the P-EBT Benefits you need to know.
P-EBT helps to connect families to their food benefits and trust me when I say you don’t have to pass through many protocols to be part of the platform.
Pandemic EBT (or P-EBT) is a federal program that gives eligible families food benefits in addition to free or reduced-price meals at child care or school.
Through P-EBT, eligible school children receive temporary emergency nutrition benefits loaded on EBT cards that are used to purchase food. Children who would have received free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Act if their schools were not closed or operating with reduced hours or attendance for at least 5 consecutive days are eligible to receive P-EBT benefits.
SEE THIS: Child Tax Credit Payments 2021 | Advanced Child Tax Credit Portal
P-EBT also provides benefits to younger children in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) whose covered child care facility is closed or operating with reduced hours or attendance, or who live in the area of schools that are closed or operating with reduced hours or attendance.
Pandemic EBT Eligibility
Being eligible will grant you the access to be part of the P-EBT, see below;
- Young children are eligible for P-EBT 2.0 if, between October 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021, they were:
- Age 0-6 years old; and
- Part of a household getting CalFresh food benefits; and
- Living in a county where at least one school facility is closed or is limiting in-person instruction.
2. School-aged children are eligible for P-EBT 2.0 if they were:
- Enrolled at a school for the school year 2020-21 that participated in the federal School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program; and
- Eligible to get free or reduced-price meals for the school year 2020-21; and
- Assumed to have attended school via all distance learning or a hybrid of all distance learning and in-person learning at least some days of the week during the school year 2020-21.
P-EBT Benefits
P-EBT Benefits are safe to use for you and your family members. Getting the benefits does not make you a public charge and the program does not report your information to immigration services.
The maximum amount per eligible child is $123 per month for those assumed to have attended school via all distance learning and $68 per month for hybrid learning. The amount is likely to change over time depending on when schools reopened in your area.
Also, another benefit is that every child is eligible to own a card. For example, if you are a family with multiple children, you’ll get multiple cards.
In addition, payments are accepted in stores and online. P-EBT cards are automatically loaded.
Pandemic EBT Application
For those of you that are looking for a way to apply, the truth is that you don’t need to apply. If a child meets the requirements given above, a card will automatically be mailed to them.
You can apply for free or reduced-price school meals through your school.
If you have any questions about these P-EBT Benefits and applications, feel free to relate them with Securedbest.com by using the comment box below. Also, share this article on your social media account so that others can know about it.
