Announcing the NEW (Pandemic EBT SNAP Benefits (P-EBT) Program for Kids  

Did you know that P-EBT is a temporary food benefits program operating during the COVID-19 pandemic and that P-EBT provides benefits to all eligible children without needing to apply?  This is because, due to schools going remote/hybrid, the children didn’t receive their school meals.

The P-EBT Program will reimburse families who qualify for Free/reduced meals.

And Beginning in March 2021, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in collaboration with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will issue P-EBT benefits to families with eligible children for the 2020-2021 school year. So, families receiving the regular SNAP and non-SNAP households can qualify for P-EBT benefits.

The P-EBT cards being issued to families will be initially loaded, for meals missed from the beginning of the 2020 school year (Aug /Sept) to December 2020, and reloaded periodically until after the school year ends in May/June 2021.  So once a family receives this card, they need to hang on to it and access the funds as they are deposited.

Along with the DuPage Federation, the Northern Illinois Food Bank put together an easy Flow chart for the families to see if they qualify and what their next step should be (available in English, Spanish, Arabic Polish, Urdu & Zho).  There is also a FAQ sheet that goes into details of the program—in an easily understandable way.  The FAQ is available in English & Spanish.   There is also a Flyer more Specific to SNAP (bilingual).

Please click on the links above to access these documents.

Northern Illinois Food Bank SNAP Outreach Team has committed to helping the schools deal with the influx of questions from Families since School Districts are already dealing with the Remote/In-person School issues.   information.

The Toll-Free NIFB SNAP Helpline number is 844-600-7627   (844-600-SNAP).

They can assess the families’ needs when they call that number—Several Team members also speak Spanish: