*From the West Virginia Department of Education*
* Please note, Wood County Schools does not distribute P-EBT cards or determine benefits. For more information or support on P-EBT, please visit www.wvpebt.org, call the P-EBT hotline at 304-756-KID1 (5431), or email wvpebt@k12.wv.us. *
USDA ANNOUNCES SUMMER P-EBT PLANS FOR WEST VIRGINIA FAMILIES
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the West Virginia Department of Education have received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue P-EBT benefits to eligible children this summer.
School-age children are eligible if effective May 31, 2021, they were enrolled in a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program in school year 2020-21 and qualified for free or reduced-price school meals. Children under the age of six are eligible if they are in a household that receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Benefits will be loaded onto existing P-EBT cards that were issued during the 2020-21 program year. The state will not utilize the Mountain State card for summer P-EBT.
The state will issue a one-time benefit of $375 per child to each eligible child. Benefits are scheduled to be released mid-July. West Virginia estimates that it will issue $83.4 million to approximately 222,395 school children and $13.3 million to approximately 35,463 SNAP-enrolled children during the 2021 summer period.
New students enrolling in schools this fall that were not students in school year 2020-21 are not eligible for this year’s summer P-EBT. Guidance on P-EBT for the upcoming school year has not yet been issued by the USDA, but these details will be shared publicly as soon as the information is available.