Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) SNAP for Eligible Children of Free/Reduced Price School Meals Issued for June 2020

06/23/2020

Policy Memo

Summary

• The Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 provides the Secretary of Agriculture authority to approve a State agency plan for temporary emergency standards of eligibility and levels of benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. Children who would receive free/reduced-price meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, if not for the school closure are eligible under this provision.
• The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in collaboration with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) implemented Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) SNAP benefits effective March 2020 through May 2020 for children ages 3 to 17 and ages 18 to 22 (if in high school), who have temporarily lost access to free or reduced price school meals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Due to the closure of Illinois schools for the remainder of the school year, P-EBT SNAP benefits are being issued for the month of June 2020. The P-EBT SNAP benefit amount for the month of June is $39.90 per child based on 7 school closure days.
• As a clarification to the previous policy memo, Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) SNAP for Eligible Children of Free/Reduced-Price School Meals, dated 04/20/2020, households who apply for P-EBT in May, June, or July will have eligibility back to March (if eligible for free/reduced-price meals during the timeframe). Applications for P-EBT benefits will be accepted through 07/15/2020.
• Due to a system error, some customers while in Manage My Case saw the option to use the "DSNAP" button and may have mistakenly clicked on it to apply for DSNAP benefits. DSNAP is not a P-EBT benefit and is not a benefit that is available for the customer to apply for currently. The DSNAP module is only being used by central office staff for the P-EBT application process. A client notice will be mailed to these customers explaining the error and telling them on how to apply for P-EBT benefits.

---

• The Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 provides the Secretary of Agriculture authority to approve a State agency plan for temporary emergency standards of eligibility and levels of benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. Children who would receive free/reduced price meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, if not for the school closure are eligible under this provision.
• The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in collaboration with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) implemented Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) SNAP benefits effective March 2020 through May 2020 for children ages 3 to 17 and ages 18 to 22 (if in high school), who have temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

P-EBT Benefit Issuance for June 2020

• Due to the closure of Illinois schools for the remainder of the school year, P-EBT SNAP benefits are being issued for the month of June 2020. The P-EBT SNAP benefit amount for the month of June is $39.90 per child based on 7 school closure days.
• All children that would receive a free or reduced-price meal if school was in session, even if a district wide eligibility school, are eligible for P-EBT regardless of income or citizenship. Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) SNAP allotments are equal to the daily reimbursement for free lunch and breakfast multiplied by the average number of school closure days in the month for each eligible child in the household. $3.50 Lunch + $2.20 breakfast = $5.70 daily cost per child.

Eligibility Clarification

• As a clarification to the previous policy memo, Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) SNAP for Eligible Children of Free/Reduced Price School Meals, dated 04/20/2020, households who apply for P-EBT in May, June or July will have eligibility back to March (if eligible for free/reduced-price meals during the timeframe). Applications for P-EBT benefits will be accepted through 07/15/2020.

Newly Approved Applications

For new SNAP applications, a weekly systematic process is in place to review applications that are approved in the last week. P-EBT benefits will be created for any eligible household (contains child in school that has not already received a P-EBT benefit).

Active SNAP Availability Dates

See the charts below for May and June availability dates for active SNAP households.

May 2020 Regular Availability Date	May 2020 P-EBT Benefit Availability Date
1st	20th
2nd	21st
3rd	22nd
4th	23rd
5th	24th
6th	25th
7th	26th
8th	27th
9th	28th
10th	29th
13th, 17th, 20th	30th

June 2020 Regular Availability Date	June 2020 P-EBT Benefit Availability Date
1st	9th
2nd	10th
3rd	11th
4th	12th
5th	13th
6th	14th
7th	15th
8th	16th
9th	17th
10th	18th
13th, 17th, 20th	19th

System Error in Manage My Case (MMC)

Due to a system error, some customers while in Manage My Case saw the option to use the "DSNAP" button and may have mistakenly clicked on it to apply for DSNAP benefits. DSNAP is not a P-EBT benefit and is not a benefit that is available for the customer to apply for currently. The DSNAP module is only being used by central office staff for the P-EBT application process. A client notice will be mailed to these customers explaining the error and telling them on how to apply for P-EBT benefits.

signed copy on file]

Grace B. Hou

Secretary, Illinois Department of Human Services

Forms referenced: