P EBT Application and Eligibility Criteria for all States' 2024 School Year

Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer – P EBT application is part of the U.S. government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, offering an opportunity for you to obtain hunger relief for your household. See the full details!

Overview of the P EBT Scheme

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The program provides food benefits to families with children who would have received free or reduced-price school meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) if not for the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency.

In support of President Biden’s call to action on hunger, USDA announced that it is increasing the P-EBT benefit by approximately 15 percent, providing more money for low-income families and millions of children missing meals due to school closures.

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.

What are P EBT Food Benefits?

The Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 and Other Extensions Act re-enforced the payment of P-EBT food benefits to households with children who would have received free school meals under the National School Lunch Act.

These transient food benefits are being provided to help cover the cost of meals children would have otherwise received at school during the 2023-24 school year and for the Summer 2024 and 2025 periods.

While P-EBT food benefits are not SNAP benefits, they can only be utilized when purchasing the same food items that can be purchased with SNAP benefits.

Qualifications & Eligibility

P EBT for children in covered child care facilities given that there is a Public Health Emergency designation in place, a child is eligible for benefits under P EBT’s child care component if these eligibility criteria are met:

Submission of a FARM application to the child’s school for the current school year and approval of the application has been received.
Attending a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school in low-income areas. View a list of eligible CEP schools in the District.
Receiving SNAP and TANF benefits, experiencing homelessness, or residing in foster care.
The child is a member of a household that received SNAP benefits at any time since October 1, 2020,
The child is enrolled in a covered childcare facility.
The facility is closed or is operating with reduced attendance or hours for at least 5 consecutive days, resulting in the child’s inability to attend the facility; or one or more schools in the area of the facility, or in the area of the child’s residence, is closed or is operating with reduced attendance or hours.
The child does not receive free or reduced-price meals at school because the school is closed; or,
The school has been operating with reduced attendance or hours for at least five consecutive days.

Please contact your child’s school to verify their eligibility for P EBT and the school lunch program.

DHS, the District’s SNAP agency, is responsible for issuing P EBT benefits to qualified households through EBT cards, in collaboration with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to obtain student enrollment and NSLP information.

P EBT benefits are equivalent to the daily reimbursement for free breakfast and lunch, and P EBT benefits issued for school year 2019-2020 were $5.70 per child, multiplied by the average number of days when school was canceled.

The P EBT daily benefit rate increased to $5.86 at the beginning of the school year 2023-2024 and received an additional increase in February 2023 to $6.82 to include a snack benefit.

The increased benefits can be applied retroactively to students eligible in August and September of the school year 2024-2025.

P EBT benefits are issued to EBT cards and benefits may be used to purchase food at stores that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) or online at Amazon

Review of P EBT Benefits Distribution

In September 2023, the DHS issued P EBT benefits for the new school year to the children who were known to be eligible at that time and who already had existing EBT cards.

Unfortunately, some eligible children may not have been paid yet due to the time limit and challenges in the federal government’s rules.

Since then, schools reported more children eligible for August and September P EBT benefits. They can now be paid in March 2024 as the District has been authorized to issue P EBT benefits retroactively.

Additionally, all eligible students in August and September 2024 will receive extra benefits due to an increase in the P EBT benefit daily rate.

The P EBT daily rate increased from $5.70 per school day per child in SY21-22 to $5.86 at the beginning of SY22-23 and further increased to $6.82, which was also retroactively applied to the beginning of the current school year.

Every student eligible in August and September 2024 will receive additional benefits of $0.96 multiplied by the number of school days during this period after P-EB benefits are issued at the daily rate of $5.86 per child.

All P EBT benefits will be issued to your existing EBT card if you are currently receiving SNAP benefits or received P EBT benefits previously.

If you are new to the P EBT program, you will receive a new EBT card when benefits for your child are issued.

Therefore, it is important to have an up-to-date address on file with your school or your SNAP case at the DHS. If you lost your EBT card or have trouble activating your card, you may submit an online web form.

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District residents, who are currently participating in SNAP or have previously received P EBT benefits, will receive P EBT benefits on their existing EBT card.

District residents new to the P EBT program will receive a new EBT card when P EBT benefits are issued for the first time.

Please complete and submit an online web form if your EBT card is lost or missing, or if you are experiencing trouble activating your EBT card. Good luck!

P EBT Application and Eligibility Criteria for all States’ 2024 School Year