Food Benefits for Families through the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) Program

Food Benefits for Families through the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) Program

June 3, 2021 | Charter Administration

Many families still may be struggling financially from the COVID-19 crisis, and the P-EBT program that was made available last May is available again. By simply communicating information about the P-EBT program to your families, you can help them obtain a one-time payment for each eligible child. Even if your Charter District has continued to provide school meals during the shut-down, families may still be eligible.

Who is eligible to apply?

To be eligible for P-EBT the following criteria must be met:

  • Your child’s school must have been closed, had a delayed start, or had reduced attendance or hours for five consecutive days. Virtual-only instructional days are considered closed.
  • You child’s school must participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program. Only eligible schools are listed on the application.
  • Your child must be enrolled in a Texas school.
  • Students must also meet at least one of the eligibility requirements below:
    • Meet income eligibility guidelines for free or reduced-price school meals and report that to their school through a socioeconomic form or school meals application.
    • Attend a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) or Provision 2 (P2) school where all students receive free meals.
    • Born after Aug. 1, 2014, in a family who received SNAP benefits for at least one month between October 2020 and June 2021.

How will families receive the P-EBT funds?

SNAP Recipients

Current SNAP recipients (defined as received SNAP benefits for at least one month between August 2020 and April 2021) will have the funds automatically loaded on their Lone Star Cards. No action is required unless they had students under age 5 or over age 18 who were enrolled in a Texas school and qualified for free or reduced-price meals (see non-SNAP below). If a family joined SNAP for the first time in May or June of 2021, they will need to fill out an application.

Non-SNAP Families

Families who do not receive SNAP benefits will have to submit an application. In addition, SNAP families with students under age 5 or over age 18 (and enrolled in a Texas school in 2020-21) will also need to apply. Approved families will be mailed a Texas P-EBT card with the funds loaded on it.

Link to application: https://yourtexasbenefits.com/Learn/PEBT

What action do schools need to take?

We realize that school might already be out for you, but please use email, social media, robo-calls, your website, summer school correspondence, and any other available means to notify families. TEA has prepared an outreach toolkit with materials ready-made in English and Spanish to send to families. Please click here to access the toolkit with outreach materials.

What else do we need to know?

  • The rules for what food items can be purchased are the same as the SNAP program.
  • The amount of funds will vary depending on the number of days the school was not open for in-person instruction as reported by the school to TEA.
  • Click here for more information about P-EBT on the Texas Health and Human Service’s website.
  • Deadline – Families (unless ages 5-18 on SNAP) must apply for benefits by August 13, 2021, and the cards will be good for one year.

CSS will be ready to assist our clients with information about the P-EBT program and provide free and reduced-price meal data for our PEIMS customers.

Have questions or need assistance?

Please contact:

Want to discuss?

Visit the Charter School Community Roundtable to ask questions, get answers and more!