Families who qualify for a one-time benefit of up to $285 issued on an EBT card will now have until July 31, 2020 to complete and submit the application. Once approved, a P-EBT card will be mailed to your household and families will have one year to use the benefits, which are non-transferable.
The P-EBT benefit was approved by the United States Department of Agriculture to help eligible families buy food for their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EBT card can be used like a debit card to buy food from any retailer that accepts the Texas Lone Star Card.
To date, close to $700 million in P-EBT has been issued to Texas families, benefiting over 2.5 million children.
If any of the following circumstances apply to your children, they may be eligible:
- Children who received SNAP food stamp benefits for March 2020.
- Children who are approved for free or reduced-price meals during the 2019-20 school year.
- Children who attend a school that offers free meals to all students.
If your family meets one of the above requirements, here are next steps:
- Families who received SNAP benefits in the month of March 2020 for children ages 5 – 18 will automatically receive the P-EBT benefit on their EBT card. You do not need to apply.
- Qualifying families that must apply online:
- If you have children under the age of 5 or children between the ages of 19 and 21, who received SNAP benefits in March, you must apply online for P-EBT.
- If you have children up to 21 years old who received free or reduced meals at school based on the approval of a free/reduced meal application, you must apply online for P-EBT.
A P-EBT call center can be reached at 833-613-6220 to assist families in completing their application. For more information, please visit hhs.texas.gov/PEBT.
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