FAQ PEBT & Summer PEBT

P-EBT for the 2020-2021 Academic Year

Important note: If you did not fill out an application for free or reduced-price meals before May 17, it is too late to qualify for P-EBT for the 2020-2021 academic year. However, there is still time to qualify for summer P-EBT. Go to Summer PEBT 2021 section for more information.

Problems

• Q: I recall enrolling my child in free-or-reduced price meals before May 17, but I didn’t receive PEBT. What should I do?

A: First call your child’s school district.  You can also call your child’s school, but some schools are closed. Ask if your child is on the list of students who qualified for free or reduced-price meals.

You should have received a confirmation number if you qualified for free or reduced-price meals. Locate the number and call DWS’s P-EBT hotline (833)-940-2990 to report your problem.

General Questions:

• Q: How do I know if my child was eligible for P-EBT benefits?

A: If your child falls under any of these circumstances: My child qualified for free or reduced-price meals before May 17; my child is attending a CEP school designated school; my household receives SNAP benefits.   

• Q: Was an application required for this program?

A: There was no application for P-EBT. However, your child needed to have been signed up by May 17 for free or reduced-price school lunch, which has its own application. Contact your local school or district if you would like to apply for free or reduced-price meals. Utahns Against Hunger has a tool for contacting your school.

• Q: Will PEBT cards be sent by districts or what is the procedure you are doing?

A: Yes. By schools within a district. PEBT has a list of schools.

https://jobs.utah.gov/covid19/pebt/pebtschools.pdf

• Q: How is the amount each family receives on their P-EBT card determined?

A: The amount varies according to the days they took classes online. When I say “classes online,” I mean days predetermined by the district. Days your children took online due to illness or any other personal reason do not count.

DWS released a list of schools included in the second PEBT broadcast

https://jobs.utah.gov/covid19/pebt/pebtschools.pdf

They also have a chart that explains the learning pattern for each school by month.

I - "In person", so there are no benefits

H- "Hybrid" means a little less than $ 40 per month.

V- "Virtual" means about $ 130 per month.

• Q: The cards are arriving by time, some were in May, June, July, how will people know when PEBT will arrive to their children?

A: PEBT payments are distributed by emissions. The emissions do not have a fixed and fast date. Which month you receive depends on when your district reported data for all schools within the district. Payments are retroactive. It means that the payments of the months that do not have payments, accumulate and the accumulation occurs in the first payment. For example: If they get their first payment in June, they will receive the May payment plus the June payment in the first payment. They do not receive less because they receive payments in later months.

Because of a nationwide shortage of ebt processing, cards are taking much longer than expected to reach families. Every family that qualifies will receive the full benefit, but many cards may be delayed until later in the summer.  Families calling in have been told to expect delays of around a month.

Summer PEBT 2021

• Q: What is Summer P-EBT?

A: It is an extension of the regular PEBT to support families in the period when children are not in school. Like regular PEBT but for summer. The big difference would be that it will not be released by emissions. It will be given in a single payment.

• Q: Who would be eligible for the summer PEBT?

A: If your child falls under any of these circumstances: My child qualified for free or reduced-price meals before August 1; my child is attending a CEP designated school; my household receives SNAP benefits.   

• Q: Is an application required for summer P-EBT?

A: There was no application for P-EBT. P-EBT goes out to the families of students at qualifying schools who had also successfully applied for free and reduced meals through their school. Students who apply successfully for free or reduced meals before August 1st will automatically be included in the list for Summer P-EBT.  

Check your district website for online free or reduced applications or print and fill out an application here. Submit paper applications to your school or district. Children at CEP schools do not need to apply

• Q: Where can I submit a paper application?

A: If you cannot submit an application online, paper applications can be submitted to the district. I recommend parents call their child's school first and if it is closed call the district to find out exactly where in the district it can be delivered, this will typically be the main

Resources:

https://uah.org/get-help/school-meals

As Utah responds to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Utahns Against Hunger will be collecting and maintaining information on emergency food resources in the state.

P-EBT

P-EBT, or Pandemic EBT, is a federal relief program for parents of children receiving free or reduced lunch. If your children received or reduced lunch between March or May of 2020, look below to see if you qualify:

P-EBT Information and Resources

Benefits & Food Resources

Follow these links for resources related to key food assistance programs, and check below for more information about resources that are being made available during the pandemic response.

SNAP Benefits Emergency Food School Meals Food Assistance for Seniors  WIC Program

Summer Food

We and all our partners are working hard to provide up to date information, but we are responding to a dynamic situation and circumstances at any given site are subject to change. Please call any service provider before visiting to make sure they are best able to help.

If you need help beyond food assistance or benefits: contact United Way, either at the 2-1-1 Utah website or by phone at 801-736-8929.

Our county fact sheets collect information on food resources throughout Utah. These sheets include lists of pantries, information on applying for SNAP and WIC, and information on other resources like meals on wheels services.

• Beaver County
• Box Elder County
• Cache and Rich Counties
• Carbon County
• Daggett, Duschene, and Uintah Counties
• Davis County
• Emery and Grand Counties
• Garfield and Iron Counties
• Juab, Millard, and Piute Counties
• Kane and Washington Counties
• Morgan and Weber Counties
• Salt Lake County
• San Juan County
• Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne Counties
• Tooele County
• Utah, Summit, and Wasatch Counties

Utahns Against Hunger will also be tracking the status of school meals and child nutrition services during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.