AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a third round of federal Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) food benefits for families with children who have temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summer P-EBT, which covers June through August, provides a one-time benefit of $375 per eligible child and can be used in the same way as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits to pay for groceries. The administration of summer P-EBT is a joint effort by HHSC, the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas Education Agency.
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Summer P-EBT is for families with children in grades K through 12 who are certified for free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and families with children born after Aug. 1, 2014 who receive SNAP food benefits.
“Thank you to HHSC and USDA for working together to ensure Texas families can continue to put food on the table,” Abbott said. “This third round of pandemic food benefits will help us continue to provide access to nutritious food for both families and their children.”
“As children across the state start going back to school, we’re thankful we can provide this added benefit so Texans can provide nutritious food for their families,” said Wayne Salter, the HHS Deputy Executive Commissioner of Access and Eligibility Services.
Children in grades Kindergarten through the 12th grade who were eligible for P-EBT benefits during the 2020-21 school year are eligible for summer P-EBT benefits as long as they were still enrolled in school during the last month of the school year.
Eligible families will receive summer P-EBT benefits in the fall. For more information, visit hhs.texas.gov/pebt or call the P-EBT Call Center at 833-442-1255.
In the third round of pandemic food benefits, HHSC said they received federal approval to provide more than $1.4 billion in benefits to approximately 3.7 million eligible children in Texas.