Pandemic EBT Frequently Asked Questions
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The California Department of Education (CDE) and Department of Social Services (CDSS) are partnering on the administration of Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) in California.
P-EBT will provide up to $365 to needy children eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Meals (FRPM) through the National School Lunch (NSLP) or School Breakfast Programs (SBP). Children who are directly certified for FRPM will automatically be mailed a P-EBT card through an automated data matching process between the CDE and CDSS. These P-EBT cards will arrive in the mailboxes of eligible families between May 12 and May 22.
Children who are FRPM eligible through the meal application process will be able to apply for P-EBT online beginning May 22. The application will be available on the Apply for P-EBT website
and will be available in English, Spanish and Chinese. Eligibility of those children who apply online will be confirmed by the CDE and CDSS using data from the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).
Outreach
The CDE and CDSS have developed P-EBT outreach materials that are available for download from the CDSS Pandemic EBT web page.
Outreach materials include an outreach toolkit, informational flyers for families, frequently asked questions documents, sample social media content and additional resources for partner agencies.