The Delaware Division of Social Services is issuing retroactive emergency food assistance benefits under the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program for School Year 2022-2023 and Summer 2023 to Delaware households with eligible children.

Eligible households began receiving P-EBT benefits beginning in August. Benefits from Fall 2022 (September-December 2022) are available on EBT cards as of Aug. 18, 2023. Benefits from Spring 2023 (January-May 2023) will be available on EBT cards Sept. 27, 2023, while benefits from Summer 2023 will be available Oct. 13, 2023.

Delaware’s P-EBT Program provides food assistance to families with children who lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to school closures or reduced in-person attendance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The P-EBT Program was implemented as a result of the federal public health emergency declaration for COVID-19 and will end after the Summer 2023 retroactive benefits are issued.

Eligible households will receive written notification in the mail regarding P-EBT benefits for the 2022-2023 school year and Summer 2023.

School Year 2022-2023 P-EBT for School Children

Families with children who were enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade at a Delaware school for the 2022-2023 school year qualify for P-EBT benefits if three conditions are met:

1. The child attended a Delaware school in school year 2022-2023 that qualified for P-EBT because the school closed or operated with reduced attendance or hours for five consecutive days; and
2. The child was certified either directly, through categorical eligibility, or through an application to receive free or reduced-price meals or attended a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school where all students received free meals through the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program; and
3. The child was not able to receive free or reduced-price meals at school because the child had an excused absence, attended school virtually, or was homeschooled due to a COVID-related reason.

Families will receive $8.18 for each school day that their child did not receive meals at school because the child had an excused absence, attended school virtually, or was homeschooled due to a COVID-related reason. The P-EBT benefit amount equals the federal reimbursement rate for breakfast, lunch, and a snack of $8.18 per child per eligible school day. Families will not receive P-EBT for the days that their children attended school in-person and received meals at school or for absent, virtual, or homeschool days that are not due to COVID-19. Families will receive P-EBT benefits for all eligible children in their home according to the schedule below.

*Partial benefit month due to the expiration of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023.

School Year 2022-2023 P-EBT for Children Under 6 in SNAP Households

Families who received SNAP food benefits during one or more months from September 2022 through May 2023 and had a child under age 6 in their household will receive P-EBT benefits for the 2022-2023 school year.

Families will receive a standard benefit amount for each child under age 6 for the months that the household received SNAP food benefits according to the schedule below.

*Partial benefit month due to the expiration of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, 2023.

Summer 2023 P-EBT for School Children

Families with eligible children will receive P-EBT benefits for Summer 2023.

Children who meet the following conditions qualify for the Summer P-EBT benefit:

1. Children who were eligible for free or reduced-price school meals during the last month of the 2022-2023 school year. This includes children who graduated at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
2. Children who are determined newly eligible for free or reduced-price school meals during Summer 2023 and were enrolled in a Delaware school during the 2022-2023 school year. Families that submitted a meal application to their school on or before August 4, 2023, and are approved will qualify for Summer P-EBT as long as the child was enrolled in the school for the 2022-2023 school year.

Families will receive the standard Summer P-EBT benefit amount of $120 for each eligible child in their home according to the schedule below.

P-EBT benefits may be used to purchase food at stores that accept SNAP EBT cards. SNAP households will have P-EBT benefits loaded to their existing SNAP EBT cards. Households that do not receive SNAP will have P-EBT benefits loaded to the P-EBT card that was sent to them in a previous school year. Newly eligible non-SNAP households will receive a P-EBT card in the mail along with details on how to use the card.

P-EBT eligibility is based on information received from Delaware schools and the Division of Social Services. If a child’s P-EBT eligibility information is received late from the child’s school, the family will get their P-EBT benefits after the dates listed in the table above.

Families with questions about Delaware’s P-EBT program can contact the Division of Social Services at 1-866-843-7212 or visit Delaware’s P-EBT website.

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