The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) started releasing additional Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) benefits to eligible households Wednesday as part of a second distribution approved by the United States Department of Agriculture through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.
Eligible households include students who are learning virtually for at least five consecutive days and qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school or are enrolled in schools that provide free meals through the Community Eligibility Provision. Families are not required to be current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants or complete an application to qualify.
P-EBT benefit amounts will vary and are calculated at the rate of $5.86 per day, per child for each day the school operated under a 100% virtual model from the start of the 2020-21 school year to today. Households that previously received P-EBT benefits will have the new benefit automatically added to their card. Replacement cards may be requested by contacting ConnectEBT, Virginia’s third-party EBT vendor, by phone at 1-866-281-2448. Newly eligible households can expect to receive a P-EBT card by mail within the next four weeks. If the participant is known to the SNAP program, VDSS will automatically load the benefit to the SNAP EBT card today.
Households with questions regarding their P-EBT benefits should refer to the P-EBT flyer or visit www.PEBTva.com for more information. Questions can also be submitted through the redesigned P-EBT inquiry portal, which can also be accessed through the P-EBT webpage or the COVID-19 Virginia Resources mobile app.
To learn more about food assistance resources and other COVID-19-related programs, visit www.dss.virginia.gov/benefit.
