(DailyDig.com) – In 2020, the pandemic led to an economic downturn, leading to massive unemployment and poverty across the United States. This resulted in an increased need for food assistance, whereby the federal government allowed states to provide extra food benefits to eligible households. Unfortunately, the federal government ended the Pandemic EBT program, which gave many people additional SNAP Benefits.
This made the already struggling families experience more hardship when searching for adequate and quality food for themselves and their children. As a result of the challenges faced by the communities, especially with the rising cost of living, Oregon came up with a response program, additional $170M pandemic EBT(P-EBT), to deal with the harsh impacts of the pandemic on young children. The program is meant to provide supplemental food support to children whose access to adequate and healthy food provided by school programs might have been affected by Covid-19.
The P-EBT will be issued by the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), where the food benefits are expected to cater to approximately 434,000 young children and students. Continue reading to learn more about this program, including its eligibility and what parents need to ensure their children benefit.
How Does Issuing the Additional $170M Pandemic EBT Food Assistance Work?
The additional $170M P-EBT food benefits distribution tends to differ from the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT). The eligible young children and students will receive their money through a P-EBT card by mail. This year, the organizers intend to send out the P-EBT cards from late March until the end of May 2023, so eligible applicants should keep checking their mailboxes.
The children who are acceptable for the P-EBT will get two pieces of mail. One part of the mail will contain the P-EBT card with a $391 food benefit, while the other indicates that the child is eligible for the P-EBT benefits. If a family has several children qualified for the P-EBT food benefits, each child will get individual letters and P-EBT cards.
Who Is Eligible for The Additional $170M P-EBT Food Benefits?
Young children and students in Oregon will be eligible for the P-EBT food benefits issued in spring 2023 if they:
- Were under the age of six and were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefit during the summer of 2022
- Go to a community provision school eligible for the program
- Were eligible for subsidized National School Lunch Meals throughout the school year of 2021-2022
Applicants must be Oregon residents and make below a particular minimum income for their child to qualify for P-EBT food benefits. Finally, they should check out other eligibility criteria and comply with them to increase the chances of their child getting the P-EBT food benefits.
Benefits of Issuing the Additional $170M Pandemic EBT Food Assistance
P-EBT has been of great importance to the community of Oregon by providing numerous benefits such as:
- P-EBT does not replace any child nutrition program; therefore, more families are encouraged to continue participating in the meal programs available in their communities and their children’s school.
- More students and young children are now able to access adequate and quality food
- P-EBT helps in promoting general wellness and excellent health among young children and students
Food is an essential resource that means everything to the community, especially the children. As the communities in Oregon continue to experience the significant impact of COVID-19, the additional $170M P-EBT food benefits will continue helping the eligible children so that they can have access to and enjoy healthy and quality meals as other children.
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