Benefit program to help families of students who received free or reduced school lunch

May 20--Beginning this week, families whose students receive free or reduced cost school lunch will receive "Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer" benefits.

The pandemic benefit program, also known as P-EBT, is expected to reimburse families of about 600,000 Indiana students for meals their children would have received had schools not closed this spring due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Families already receiving Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits will see funds applied to their SNAP accounts, accessible using a Hoosier Works EBT card by the end of the month, according to a news release from the Indiana Family and Social Service Administration.

Those not receiving SNAP benefits will receive an electronic benefits transfer card in the mail by the end of the month. The card will function like a debit card and can be used at any SNAP-accepting store in the United States, but cannot be used to make ATM withdrawals.

Families do not need to apply for the P-EBT card. The Family and Social Services Administration worked with the Indiana Department of Education to identify families whose children were receiving free or reduced price lunches at school, according to the FSSA release.

P-EBT funds will be determined by multiplying the value of a daily allotment for school breakfast and lunch meals by the average number of academic days missed since school buildings were ordered closed.

To calculate this, the FSSA will use the United States Department of Agriculture's federal reimbursement rate of $5.70 for free breakfast and lunch meals and the IDOE's estimate of 56 missed school days this spring.

The IDOE 56-school-day average was found counting all weekdays between March 13 -- the first day following Gov. Eric Holcomb's executive order granting schools a 20-day waiver allowing building closures -- and May 29, the average last day of school for Indiana districts. This calculation also accounts for spring break, according to the FSSA release.

Each family will receive a P-EBT total based on the number of children in their home eligible for the free or reduced price school lunch program.

More information on P-EBT assistance is available on the FSSA website at in.gov/fssa/dfr/5767.htm.

Concerned about COVID-19?

Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily.

___

(c)2020 The Times (Munster, Ind.)

Visit The Times (Munster, Ind.) at www.nwitimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.