The New Jersey Department of Human Services is preparing to issue the next round of Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT), a federal program that helps families buy groceries during the pandemic. To receive this benefit, children must be approved to receive free or reduced-price school meals or attend a school that provides free meals to all students (CEP schools). They must also have attended school remotely for at least five consecutive days during any month from September 2020 to June 2021.
Each district is required to submit a list of eligible students for each month. If a district does not submit the information in a timely manner, families in that district will miss out on this critical assistance.
Parents and teachers can play a key role in encouraging their school leaders to provide this information to the state as promptly as possible. While we understand that some districts may face challenges in gathering and submitting this information, it is important for all eligible families to receive this benefit, even if they received free meals during the school year. Many families continue to struggle to put food on the table, despite the availability of school meals.
Please encourage your school leaders to participate in the P-EBT Program.
Visit DHS’ P-EBT page for more information.