HOUSTON — Houston Independent School District (HISD) families can now apply for a Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT), a one-time benefit for families who, for the time being, lost access to student meals throughout the 2020–2021 school year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The program, established last year and offered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas Health and Human Services Commission, aims to help families obtain food during the pandemic. The program will provide up to $1,200 per child for eligible families in 2021.
The type of school the student attended and the number of days most students were remotely instructed will determine parts of the amount of benefit a family receives.
However, if all students at their school attended in-person classes, several eligible families may not get the benefit.
Eligible families are those with children up to 21 years old who were certified for free or reduced-price meals at a Texas school throughout the 2020-2021 school year and people with children at schools that offer meals at no cost through the Community Eligibility Provision.
All students at HISD are eligible to receive P-EBT benefits as HISD provides free meals to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision.
“We have worked hard over the past year to make sure we provided continued access to healthy food to our students and families who needed it most. As we wind down our own community distribution program, this benefit comes at the perfect time to help our families who are still recovering,” said HISD Interim Superintendent, Grenita Lathan.
Eligible families can fill the application at yourtexasbenefits.com/Learn/PEBT from June 2 to August 13, 2021.