2020-21 School Year
Pandemic EBT
- Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) provides food benefits to families whose children are missing the free or reduced-price meals usually provided at school.
- The federal government granted states authority, pending federal plan approval, to provide P-EBT benefits for the entire 2020-2021 school year. Oregon plans to provide benefits to eligible students retroactively, starting in October 2020.
Updates about how the program will be implemented will be on this page as soon as they are available.
There is not a P-EBT application. Eligible families and guardians with school aged children should make sure that their school has their most current mailing address on file and are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
There is still time to apply for free or reduced meals. You can apply
online through Oregon Department of Education or contact your school for more information.
Eligibility
To be eligible your child or student must meet one of the following:
- Attends a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program and the school determined your student is eligible for free or reduced meals or the school provides free meals to all students
- Your student attends a school where free meals are provided to all students
- Your household has a child under 6 years old and has received SNAP benefits in any month since October 2020
Benefit Amounts and Distribution
Information about benefit amounts and supplements and when they will be received will be shared at on this web page as soon as they are available.
Benefits will be issued on Oregon EBT cards.
- One P-EBT card will be issued per student.
- Students who received P-EBT in 2020 will have their benefits deposited on the same card for one student. If there is more than one student in a household, a card will be mailed for each student.
- Students that receive SNAP will receive P-EBT benefits on the same card
- New students to P-EBT will receive an Oregon EBT card in the mail with instructions
- Children, under 6 years old, will have benefits deposited on the same Oregon EBT card the household receives their SNAP benefits on.
Opting Out
P-EBT is intended to reimburse families for the cost of the free meal missed at school. If you opt out, you are letting ODHS know that you don’t wish to receive P-EBT benefits for any student in your household. Benefits will not be issued to families who have decided to opt out and will carry over to future years.
The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) is working to make our website better. We are asking for
feedback from our customers about your experience which we will use to help us make improvements.