Throughout the month of May, families directly certified for school meals through CalFresh, CalWORKS, Medi-Cal or Foster Care benefits, should receive a new EBT card in the mail, according to a news release by the Department of Human Services.

In an effort to meet the nutritional needs of the vulnerable in our community and to comply with our governor’s stay-at-home order, the new EBT card, also called “Pandemic EBT” or P-EBT, will include additional benefits to help families buy food.

Families will get up to $365 per eligible child on the P-EBT card to use to purchase groceries, according to the news release. P-EBT cards will look different, however they can be used like regular EBT cards, including the option to purchase food online at Amazon and Walmart.

Families whose children were eligible for free and reduced price meals, and those who receive certain benefits, including CalFresh, CalWORKs, Medi-Cal and Foster Care that resulted in direct certification for free and reduced price school meals are automatically eligible and do not need to apply for P-EBT, the press release says. This includes students attending public charter schools and private schools as long as the school participates in the federally funded School Breakfast Program and/or to the National School Lunch Program.

Families should begin receiving a P-EBT card in the mail today through May 22.

Families with children who are eligible for free and reduced price meals, but who are not receiving benefits that result in direct certification will need to apply online.

The online application will be available May 22 through June 30. The application can be found at https://ca.p-ebt.org/.

For more information, visit https://www.cdss.ca.gov/home/pandemic-ebt.