Pandemic Benefits for Kids Under 6 Approved
Federal Pre-6 Pandemic program gives more FoodShare funding to 90,500 children in state.
Parents who are eligible for Pre-6 P-EBT will receive benefits on their QUEST card, even if meals were picked up from school distribution sites such as this one at ALBA School. File Photo by Adam Carr/NNS.
Residents in households that receive FoodShare and who miss meals because their child care facility closed or is operating with reduced attendance or hours will receive money on their QUEST card to be spent on groceries.
The program – Pre-6 Pandemic EBT or Pre-6 P-EBT – has been approved for the 2021-’22 school year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. FoodShare Wisconsin is the state’s food program for low-income households.
As of Sept. 1, 2021, a parent is eligible to receive Pre-6 P-EBT for each child 6 years old or younger who meets the following criteria from September 2021 through June 2022:
- The household is receiving FoodShare for that month.
- The child’s child care facility was either closed, operating with reduced attendance or operating with reduced hours or the child lives in an area of a school that was closed, operating with reduced attendance or operating with reduced hours
- The same child is not receiving P-EBT benefits for the school-age program during the same month.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which administers the program, parents who are eligible to receive benefits from September 2021 to June 2022 should expect to receive a letter in the mail notifying them of the amount they will receive in mid-July.
This program is technically different from a similar school-age P-EBT program for children who are enrolled in the National School Lunch Program but who missed school meals for at least five consecutive days due to learning virtually or because they could not attend school due to a COVID-19 reason.
Benefits will arrive on the parent’s QUEST card, the same card FoodShare is loaded onto.
If parents believe that they are eligible for more than their letter says, they can email PEBTsupport@wisconsindhs.gov or call 1-833-431-2224. However, email is preferred so there is documentation of your request.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services estimated that the program will cost about $30 million and reach 90,500 children, according to its proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Pandemic benefits for children under 6 approved was originally published by the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.
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