The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services has received federal approval to distribute a second round of Pandemic EBT benefits to eligible families.
P-EBT benefits will start rolling out in the summer to qualifying households with children in grades K-12 (including pre-K students in public and some private schools). Students are eligible to receive P-EBT if they would normally receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, but haven’t been receiving those meals during the 2020-21 school year because their school is closed or they are on a fully virtual or hybrid learning schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Louisiana distributed more than $137.1 million in P-EBT benefits to 284,259 families during the first round of Pandemic EBT this past year. Those benefits covered meals missed during the 2019-20 school year due to school closures. Parents do not need to apply for P-EBT. Schools will report to DCFS which students meet the criteria for eligibility and whether they are on a hybrid or fully virtual learning schedule.
More information about P-EBT is available at www.pebt-la.org.
