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Dear Parent or Guardian,
P-EBT benefits will be provided for the 2021–2022 school year. If your child is eligible, benefit amounts will vary because it is based on each student’s COVID-related absences, virtual attendance and school closures. This is different from previous P-EBT benefit amounts that were the same for all students at a campus.
There is no online application for P-EBT, but your child must be certified for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to receive P-EBT. (See details below about NSLP eligibility.)
Your school or district will send information about eligible students to Texas Health and Human Services to issue benefits. This includes information on students’ free or reduced-price meal eligibility and information on COVID-related absences, virtual attendance and school closures. Benefits are $7.10 for each eligible day.
If your child is eligible to receive P-EBT benefits, a notice will be mailed to you. If this is your first time receiving P-EBT benefits, the notice will have information on how to claim your benefits and get a P-EBT card mailed to you. If you have received P-EBT before, benefits will be issued on your Lone Star Card or P-EBT Card. If you no longer have that card, call the Lone Star Help Desk at 877-541-7905.
P-EBT benefits for the first semester (August 2021–December 2021) should be issued in late April 2022. The second semester (January 2022–June 2022) benefits will be issued in July 2022. You might receive benefits for both semesters in July.
To learn more about eligibility, applying and getting your P-EBT benefits, visit hhs.texas.gov/pebt, or call the P-EBT Call Center at 833-442-1255, Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Central time.
National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Eligibility
Receiving free meals at school does not mean a student is eligible for NSLP, and it does not automatically make a student eligible for P-EBT. Some Texas campuses have offered free meals to all students during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Children can be eligible for NSLP in different ways. They are eligible if they have one of the following:
- NSLP household meal application approved by the child nutrition department.
- Families are encouraged to submit a meal application by April 29, 2022 to receive P-EBT benefits in a timely manner. However, meal applications may still be approved up until June 30, 2022.
- Direct certification through state or local programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, federally funded Head Start or Early Head Start, foster care, migrant or homeless youth.
- Enrollment in Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools or Provision 2 (P2) schools.
- Children attending these schools are NSLP-eligible and do not need to complete a NSLP household application. If you are uncertain about whether your child’s school is a CEP or P2 school, contact the child nutrition department (contact your child’s school to reach the child nutrition director).
