P-EBT Benefits Approved for Children ages 0-5 on SNAP in Louisiana

Louisiana – The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received federal approval on August 4, 2022, to provide Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits to families with children ages 0 to 5 who have previously received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as Food Stamps.

This is part of the USDA’s P-EBT program, which provides food benefits to eligible children as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike the P-EBT program for children attending K-12 schools, the Child Care P-EBT program will be granted to families of SNAP-eligible children who live in or attend child care in locations where facilities were shuttered or operating with reduced hours.

The Child Care P-EBT program will begin issuing benefits in the fall.

Families who qualify will receive:

• $22.45 per eligible month between August-December 2021,
• $27.14 per eligible month between January-May 2022,
• $195 for June 2022, and
• $196 for July 2022.

Child Care P-EBT benefits are available to all children under the age of six who live in a family with an active SNAP case during any eligible month from August 2021 to July 2022. A child that is eligible will only receive a P-EBT benefit if they previously received a SNAP benefit. The child must have lived or attended child care in an area where one or more schools or child care facilities were closed or operating with reduced attendance or hours to be eligible.

• If a child turned six between August 2021 and May 2022, they would be eligible to receive benefits for the remainder of the school year provided they were in a household with an active SNAP case in that month.
• If your child received P-EBT benefits for any month during the 2021-22 school year, they are not eligible for Child Care P-EBT benefits as they may have already received benefits for the designated time period.

There is no action required for qualified families to receive assistance. DCFS will distribute assistance to eligible children based on SNAP household records.

Beginning in Fall 2022, Child Care P-EBT benefits will be delivered directly to the household’s SNAP Louisiana Purchase EBT cards in numerous payments based on eligibility. To avoid benefit duplication, federal guidelines require that child care P-EBT benefits be issued after all K-12 P-EBT benefits are issued.

Parents can access their child’s case by clicking the “Check My Cases” link on their CAFÉ account by following this link or by using the LifeInCheck App.

Federal food assistance benefits will be expunged or removed, from a recipient’s EBT card nine months after the benefits are issued, unless the card is used to make a transaction within this nine-month period, according to new federal rules. If the card is used, the benefits are valid for nine months from the date of the last purchase.

Benefits are removed only if:

• It has been nine months since the benefits were issued; AND
• It has been nine months since the recipient last used their EBT card.

Benefits cannot be added back to the card once they have been removed.

More information regarding P-EBT and how to use P-EBT benefits can be found at the DCFS P-EBT by following this link or by visiting www.pebt-la.org.