NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Human Services is partnering with the Tennessee Department of Education to provide students who missed out on pandemic food assistance benefits with a retroactive payment.
These benefits come as a result of the changes the COVID-19 pandemic brought to schools, and how these changes impacted students who rely on school-provided meals.
“The COVID-19 pandemic caused much uncertainty and changes to daily routines for families, especially those that rely on school meals,” said TDHS Commissioner Clarence H. Carter. “In partnership with TDOE, we’ve taken steps to ensure that all children eligible for P-EBT receive the benefit, despite fluctuations and changes that occurred during the last school year.”
With reduced attendance rates and school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students were unable to gain access to their free and reduced meals.
A student is eligible for this single retroactive payment if they experienced a change in P-EBT status during the 2020-2021 school year, or if they were not originally accounted for.
If a student missed at least five consecutive days or the schools were closed in response to COVID-19, that student is eligible for these benefits.
If you're the parent of a child who qualifies for these benefits, you can expect to see these payments distributed on your child's existing P-EBT cards beginning on March 4.
Qualifying children who have not received a P-EBT card will be given one.
If your child's card has been lost, you can request a new one at www.connectebt.com.
You can view the status and retroactive P-EBT eligibility of your child on the department's website.
