P-EBT Update May 31, 2022

PS 321 staff has heard from parents that P-EBT cards have recently been reloaded. Please use the info below to check your card’s balance or to request a new card if you no longer have the one your child received in 2020/2021. Please do not contact the school – the cards are not under the purview of the DOE. We are including all the info we have below.

How do I order a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card? You can order a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card by calling 1-888-328-6399. Please be prepared to provide security information, including the 19-digit card number that was printed on the front of the P-EBT Food Benefit card you are replacing. If you do not have that number, you will be asked for the cardholder (i.e. your child)’s Social Security number; however, when ordering a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card (and only when ordering a P-EBT Food Benefit card), you must enter 999-99 and then the 2-digit month and 2-digit day (MM/DD) of the cardholder’s birthday. For example, if your child’s date of birth is July 4, you would enter 999-99-0704 when asked for the child’s Social Security number. You will then be asked to verify the cardholder’s 8-digit birthday (MM/DD/YYYY) and to enter the 4-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) you selected for the P-EBT food benefit card that you are replacing. If you did not previously create a PIN, you will still be able to order a replacement card by following the prompts.

Please note that P-EBT food benefits will remain available and accessible on your P-EBT Food Benefit card for at least 274 days from the date they were issued. Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefit balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

June 16, 2021

New York State announced in Spring 2021 that it would begin issuing another round of P-EBT funds, covering school year 2020-21. All NYC public school students who were enrolled for the 2020-21 school year are automatically eligible for P-EBT, no application or registration is required. Families should have received benefits per student as follows: 

$82 per month of hybrid learning; 
$132 per month that the student was fully remote.

The funds will load onto the P-EBT card you received from last year, if the card was used. If you cannot find your card, you can request a replacement card by filling out the P-EBT Information Form, by calling EBT Customer Service at 1-888-328-6399 or by going to www.connectebt.com. (Another number that we’ve heard may also work is 833-452-0096.) Go to the bottom of this post for more info on getting a replacement card. If you never received your card or didn’t use it, keep reading.

The P-EBT program is a SNAP program and is not overseen by the DOE. Therefore, public schools are very limited in what help they can provide to their families. For the P-EBT mailings, the addresses for each student receiving a benefit were pulled from DOE records. If you have more than one child in a DOE public school, check the NYCSA account for each child to see if their address is correct. Each child will receive their own benefits and card. It is unclear to school staff whether these addresses were obtained once, prior to the mailings, or if SNAP was granted continuous access to the DOE address database (in other words, if your child’s address was updated recently, we do not know if SNAP can “see” it.)

12/2/21 Update: Info received by the Superintendent’s Office from the OTDA:

Families should contact the P-EBT Food Benefits Helpline: 1-833-452-0096 or visit: P-EBT Information Form to submit a question in writing. If families are getting a message to contact the local district office or school, it is not coming from OTDA, it usually comes from the EBT Helpline (1-888-328-6399), which is the card services vendor, because that information is true for other New York State Benefit cards that they service.  P-EBT customers needing to update an address and request a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card should contact the P-EBT Food Benefits Helpline or submit the P-EBT Information Form. When calling the P-EBT Food Benefits Helpline, they should not select any of the menu options regarding card replacement because they will be routed to the EBT Helpline.  Instead, they should wait on the line to speak to a P-EBT Food Benefits Helpline representative.  We have a system that has been in place for processing the address update and replacement card requests whether the family calls the P-EBT Food Benefits Helpline or submits the P-EBT Information Form. For other issues with P-EBT, please look HERE.

If your child was new to the public school system last year, OR if you did not spend the benefit that was issued to you in earlier rounds of P-EBT distribution, a card should have been automatically mailed to you, at the address on file with the DOE.

Unfortunately, if your child’s address is correct in our school attendance system but your child never received their benefit, there is nothing else the school can do. You will need to contact SNAP/EBT directly.

To update your student’s address for this or any other reason:

FOR CURRENT 321 STUDENTS ONLY: Email your request to our pupil recording secretary Courtney Gilbert (cgilbert@ps321.info) . Include your child’s full name, DOB and OSIS/ID. For proof of the new address, she will also need a scan/pic of any current utility bill.

Go HERE and HERE for more information on P-EBT.

If you wish to donate your P-EBT benefit: As was true last year, the money on the cards themselves cannot be transferred. It must be spent by you, on food. But you can donate some or all of the amount that you received. We will be updating the PS321website with a list of local food-based aid organizations.

From the NYS P-EBT FAQ page:

How do I order a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card?

You can order a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card by calling 1-888-328-6399. Please be prepared to provide security information, including the 19-digit card number that was printed on the front of the P-EBT Food Benefit card you are replacing. If you do not have that number, you will be asked for the cardholder’s Social Security number; however, when ordering a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card (and only when ordering a P-EBT Food Benefit card), you must enter 999-99 and then the 2-digit month and 2-digit day (MM/DD) of the cardholder’s birthday. For example, if your child’s date of birth is July 4, you would enter 999-99-0704 when asked for the child’s Social Security number. You will then be asked to verify the cardholder’s 8-digit birthday (MM/DD/YYYY) and to enter the 4-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) you selected for the P-EBT food benefit card that you are replacing. If you did not previously create a PIN, you will still be able to order a replacement card by following the prompts.

Please note that P-EBT food benefits will remain available and accessible on your P-EBT Food Benefit card for at least 274 days from the date they were issued. Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefit balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.