PA has been approved to join the USDA's "P-EBT" program that sends money in the form of an EBT card to every student participating in the National School Lunch Program, including those in Lancaster. This includes students who otherwise qualify but who are not enrolled. Families who were not qualified before the pandemic are encouraged to apply if their financial circumstances have changed; they could receive a pro-rata payment.
Hunger-Free Lancaster County has more information.
The PA Dept. of Human Services would like to remind parents ASAP to have their contact information up to date with the school district to ensure the benefit is received on the first attempt to distribute it.
For school districts (like SDOL) which provide universal free meals to their students under the National School Lunch Program, all students in that district will receive the new P-EBT benefits. They do not have to enroll or do anything else to obtain the cards, which will be mailed to their homes.
Families already receiving SNAP and/or TANF benefits, these new P-EBT benefits will be added to their existing EBT cards.
