Tennessee families have until Friday at 4:30 p.m. Central Time (5:30 p.m. EST) to apply for a food assistance program made available during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release from the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) benefits help provide food for children by giving parents $5.70 in benefits per child for each day that child qualifies. The benefits can be used to purchase food at any establishment that accepts EBT or online with Amazon and Walmart.
To be eligible, children must receive free or reduced meals at school or attend a Community Eligibility Provision school. The program is designed to replace meals lost during the months of March, April, and May due to school closures, the release states.
TDHS initially launched the program on June 12 by providing the benefits to qualifying families that take part in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. These families already have an existing EBT card and P-EBT benefits were applied to those cards.
But families who do not currently receive SNAP or TANF need to apply for the program so TDHS can verify addresses and family information. After approval, families will receive a P-EBT card in the mail. The approval times can be delayed by inaccurate or incomplete information on the application, so families are encouraged to double check all names and addresses to make sure they match what their children’s schools will have on file, the release states.