West Virginia’s Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer Program (P-EBT) plan for schoolchildren in school year 2020-21 has been approved by the USDA. Through P-EBT, parents or guardians of eligible school children will receive emergency nutrition benefits loaded onto EBT cards to purchase food for their children. Children who would have received free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program if their schools were not closed or operating at reduced attendance hours are eligible to receive P-EBT benefits. Benefits will start to be released mid-March and will be applied retroactively to the beginning of the school year. The benefits will be issued to a special P-EBT card, not to the Mountain State EBT card. A hotline and website for public information is available as of Monday, February 15, 2021.
The WV P-EBT public web site is live. It can be found by navigating from the WVDE main page – or by visiting www.wvpebt.org
o The web site has a lot of information you may find useful – including a brief video that explains the program and who is eligible, how it will work.
o Basically, the most in-depth information available is going to land here and we recommend this be your “go-to” on FAQs, updates, and more.
The WV P-EBT call center is also live. Important: Call center representatives will be answering information and triaging callers. They will not have access to any private student data or information.
o Call center number: 304-756-KID1 (5431)
o Call center hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. EST