P-EBT Update - June 18, 2021
The P-EBT Update provides information on Wisconsin's Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) Programs, School P-EBT and Pre-6 P-EBT. The U.S. Congress created P-EBT to provide food benefits to support families with children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The P-EBT program is being administered by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in coordination with the Department of Public Instruction and the Department of Children and Families.
Second Release of School P-EBT Benefits This Weekend
The families of more than 250,000 students will be receiving more than $80 million in food benefits through the School Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) program this weekend. Benefits issued in this second release will primarily go to eligible Wisconsin families whose children learned remotely part or full time in at least one month between December 2020 and March 2021. Some families will receive additional benefits because their eligibility to receive School P-EBT benefits for August through November 2020 was confirmed after the initial round of benefits was released in March.
Over the past year, many schools transitioned between different ways of teaching students, and many offered families the choice between having their children learn in-person or learn remotely. DHS worked closely with the DPI, school districts, and schools to collect data about which of their students learned remotely and which students learned in-person.
If information collected by DHS shows that children enrolled in free or reduced price meals at their schools were learning remotely, families will automatically receive benefits. If DHS or DPI did not receive information or were unable to verify whether a student was learning remotely, families may receive a letter saying their child did not receive benefits in this round.
If a family receives this type of letter but had a child learning remotely during any of the months listed, they should email or call the P-EBT Support Team at 833-431-2224. Once DHS receives verification an eligible student was learning remotely, information will be updated and that student’s family will receive the appropriate benefits – retroactive to the start of the year, if needed.
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