Important: DHHR will start to mail eligible non-student households letters with information in June. PLEASE DO NOT THROW AWAY THIS LETTER. It won’t have your P-EBT card, but it will have information you need to activate your card when it arrives. P-EBT cards for non-students are projected to reach households between June 15 – July 15, 2021. Cards will arrive in plain white envelopes with a South Dakota return address.
Children who are not in school are eligible for P-EBT if the following criteria is true:
They must be in a household that receives SNAP benefits on or after October 1, 2020.
They are under the age of 6
They are not currently receiving P-EBT through an enrolled school status
Must reside in a county where one or more schools who participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is operating on either a closed or reduced attendance hours schedule due to COVID-19
Benefits are retroactive. This means they will be applied based upon a period of time that has already passed starting with October 1, 2020.
To be eligible for P-EBT, a child under 6 must receive SNAP in each benefit month.
Unlike West Virginia’s P-EBT student plan, P-EBT for children under 6 is directly associated with receipt of SNAP benefits.
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) is made possible through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA); Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, and Other Extensions Act; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
Frequently Asked Question for Non-Student SNAP P-EBT Households
Benefits are determined based upon the operational status of the county school system in which the child resides. To be eligible a child must reside in a county that has one or more schools closed or operating at a reduced attendance or hours schedule (a mix of in-person and virtual learning) for 5 consecutive days.
In WV, every county had one or more schools operating on a closed or reduced attendance/hours schedule in October 2020. All non-school aged children will receive a benefit amount equal to the average closed or reduced benefit in each county using a tiered model.
- Tier 1: 100% Virtual: If one or more schools in a county is operating 100% closed, the non-school benefit is equal to $6.82 x 5 benefit days x 4 = $136.40
- Tier 2: Hybrid Learning Model: If one or more schools in a county is operating on a hybrid schedule the benefit is equal to the average P-EBT benefit days for students in that county.
Note: If there are no schools operating at 100% virtual or hybrid models in any benefit month, the non-school aged child is not eligible for a P-EBT benefit.
The benefit is valued at a federal rate of $6.82 for each eligible day.
Cards will be mailed to the address on file with the DHHR (SNAP Agency). Cards will be issued in the name of the child. Each eligible child will receive a card with their name on it. Benefits will not be loaded to the SNAP cards. These benefits are in addition to the SNAP allocation for the households.
Cards will be issued in the child’s name. Parents/guardians can use these cards to purchase eligible items at participating vendors.
Families will receive a letter in the mail as a receipt each month, which details how much their child was eligible to receive for the benefit determination period.
This batch of P-EBT is not tied to any particular learning model. It is available for children in West Virginia under the age of 6 and in a household that receives SNAP benefits.
This is different than the school-age program, which is tied to attending a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program and is not connected exclusively to SNAP.
No, you do not need to apply for P-EBT. Information maintained by the SNAP agency (DHHR) determined which children in West Virginia were eligible for this program.
No, children do not need to be present when using the card for purchases.
Receipt of SNAP. Under the student plan SNAP is not part of eligibility criteria, language from the Consolidated Appropriations Act passed in October 2020 requires that a child under 6 have SNAP to be issued as a non-student.
If the child’s SNAP benefit closes, the child will not be eligible for a P-EBT benefit the following month. SNAP eligibility is directly tied to non-school aged P-EBT eligibility.
Children who turn 6 years old will not be eligible for P-EBT as a non-school aged child the following month. A child 6 or over with a WVEIS number will be issued P-EBT as a student if they attend a school or institution that participates in the National School Lunch Program. They will not be eligible for benefit days when in-person instruction is taking place.
The benefit is based on the county of residency. The benefit will be calculated based on the county the child resided on the first day of each benefit month.
Example: Child lives in Kanawha county, but moves to Cabell on 4/15/21. The April P-EBT benefit would be equal to that of a student in Kanawha county. The May benefit would be equal to that of a student in Cabell county.
If your family has moved out of state, your child will not be eligible to receive P-EBT in West Virginia the following month. P-EBT is issued retroactively to eligible children, so a non-school aged child would be eligible until the month they moved to another state.
Example: A family moves to Georgia in May 2021, any eligible children under 6 in the household would receive P-EBT through May 2021 in West Virginia. The child would not be eligible in June 2021.
For more information on where P-EBT can be spent or what items are eligible for purchase, please click here: