Policy Memo (240.16 KB)
State Plan Template (378.96 KB)
Pandemic EBT Summer 2021 Q&As (534.43 KB)
| DATE: | April 26, 2021 | |
| FROM: | Jessica Shahin Associate Administrator SNAP | Cindy Long Deputy Administrator, Child Nutrition Programs |
| SUBJECT: | Pandemic EBT – Summer 2021 | |
| TO: | SNAP State Agencies Child Nutrition State Agencies | |
On March 11, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (PL 117-2). ARPA makes several significant changes to Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) through amendment of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (PL 116-127), P-EBT’s authorizing legislation. Among these changes is the extension of P-EBT to the summer of 2021.
Under ARPA, P-EBT is available this summer to all children who were eligible to receive free or reduced price meals during the current school year. This includes school children who received P-EBT benefits during the school year and those who were eligible for free or reduced price school meals but did not receive P-EBT benefits in the last month of the school year because they attended school in person and had access to a meal service at school. It also includes children who are newly determined eligible for free or reduced price meals during the covered summer period as well as children under 6 who are enrolled in SNAP during the summer.
In an effort to make the distribution of P-EBT benefits to eligible children as efficient as possible, USDA has developed a simple P-EBT summer plan template. The template allows states to elect a USDA-determined standard benefit that relieves states of the burden of determining their own benefit levels based on state-specific school district calendars. USDA has also developed a set of Summer P-EBT Q&As. Both documents are now available on USDA’s P-EBT website.
Please be advised that the contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.
| Jessica Shahin Associate Administrator Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) | Cindy Long Deputy Administrator Child Nutrition Programs |