The Colorado Department of Human Services and the Department of Education have joined to offer the ‘Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer’ (P-EBT) program to school-age children who would have received free or reduced price meals during the time schools were closed during the 2019-2020 school year.
The program is also available for children who would have been eligible for free or reduced price meals in schools in March, April, or May due to loss of household income during those months.
Each household with an eligible child can receive an amount of $5.70 per child for each day that schools were closed during the school year, meaning families will be able to obtain up to $279 for each eligible child, since in the state of Colorado most schools were closed for 49 days.
“The immigration status of the parents or children does not matter for P-EBT and P-EBT is not part of the public charge rule, this means that it does not affect families’ current or future immigration processes,” said Melina Valsecia, Community Connector and Operations Manager for the MIRA Bus, in a press release.
The household information that will be used to determine eligibility for P-EBT is completely confidential and is protected by federal and state data privacy practices, she added.
For Colorado families currently receiving SNAP benefits, or food stamps, and whose children attended a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program, no further action is necessary and benefits will automatically be issued starting Friday, July 24.
Families not currently participating in the SNAP program, and whose children attended a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program, will receive key instructions and information from the Eagle County School District, MIRA Bus, and Neighborhood Navigators of Eagle County.
For eligible families in Colorado, applications are now open and can be accessed at Colorado.gov/CDHS/P-EBT through late September. More information can also be found at www.HungerFreeColorado.org.
P-EBT benefits will be issued to households via a Colorado EBT debit card as a one-time payment reflecting the days the children would have been in school during March, April, and May but were not due to COVID-19.
For those families wishing to apply for this benefit, the SASID identification number, which is assigned to each student by the state, will be required. Families will receive communication from their child’s school via email with information on how to obtain this number.
If you need help finding this ID number or filling out the application, you can contact the MIRA Bus at 970-688-0001 or Neighborhood Navigators for assistance.
Additionally, MIRA Bus staff and Neighborhood Navigators will be assisting with P-EBT applications in-person at the bus’ different locations throughout the county. Below are the MIRA Bus locations and schedule for this week:
- Monday, August 3 – Old Town Park in Eagle, 12 to 4 p.m.
- Tuesday, August 4 – Lake Creek Village Apartments in Edwards, 12 to 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, August 5 – Aspen Mobile Home Village in Avon, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday, August 6 – Ridley’s Family Market in Gypsum, 12 to 4 p.m.
- Friday, August 7 – Eagle River Village in Edwards, 8 a.m. at 5 p.m.
*COVID-19 tests will be taking place on Wednesday and Friday in the MIRA Bus. To see the full MIRA Bus schedule visit the website here.
This content was originally published here.