Eligible Delaware households will receive emergency food benefits under the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program to cover the summer period when children are not receiving meals at school.

The following children are eligible:

• Children who were eligible for free or reduced-price school meals during the last month of the 2021-22 school year. This includes graduates.
• Children who are determined newly eligible for free or reduced-price school meals this summer and were enrolled in a Delaware school during the 2021-22 year. Households that submit a meal application to their school on or before Aug. 26 and are approved will qualify, as long as the child was enrolled in the school last year.
• Children under age 6 who are part of a household that is receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits this summer.

Households will receive the U.S. standard benefit of $391 for each eligible child in the home. The benefit will be split into two issuances, one for $195 that will be available on EBT cards Friday and the other for $196, available Sept. 2.

The date benefits are issued to households depends on when eligibility information is received from schools.

The funding may be used to purchase food at stores that accept SNAP cards, where the benefits will be loaded.

Households that do not receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance will have their benefits loaded onto the P-EBT card that was sent previously. Newly eligible families will receive such cards in the mail.

The state estimates that it will issue $43.8 million in benefits to parents or guardians of approximately 112,050 children this summer.

Eligible households will receive written notification in the mail regarding the program.

Families who would like to apply for free or reduced-price meals may contact their children’s schools.

For information, call 866-843-7212 or visit here.