Washington Administrative Code › Title 388 - Social and Health Services, Department of › ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS › Chapter 388-439 - Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) program › Section 388-439-0005 - What is the pandemic EBT program?

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
				The pandemic electronic benefits transfer (P-EBT) program is a temporary
				federally funded nutrition program authorized specifically through the families
				first coronavirus act. P-EBT provides food benefits to eligible children who do
				not have access to meals at a covered childcare center or free or reduced-price
				school meals due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. P-EBT is administered
				by the department of social and health services (department) and is not bound
				by the same state or federal rules, regulations, and procedures governing the
				supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP). P-EBT is governed by its own
				specific rules as found in this chapter. The 2022-2023 school year will be the
				final year for all P-EBT programs due to the May 2023 expiration of the federal
				public health emergency (PHE).
(2)
				The following definitions apply to this program:
(a) "Benefit level" means the P-EBT benefit
				amount provided to an eligible child;
(b) "Child and adult care food program
				(CACFP)" means a federal program that provides reimbursements for nutritious
				meals and snacks to eligible children and adults who are enrolled for care at
				participating childcare centers, day care homes, and adult day care
				centers;
(c) "Direct certification"
				means a determination that a child is eligible for free or reduced-priced
				school meals without further application to the national school lunch program
				due to:
(i) Receiving a benefit from a federal
				means tested assistance program, including SNAP, temporary assistance for needy
				families (TANF), food distribution program on Indian reservations (FDPIR), some
				medicaid programs; or
(ii) Other
				source eligible categories, including children in foster care, children
				experiencing homelessness, students enrolled in the migrant education program,
				and children enrolled in head start or the early childhood education and
				assistance program (ECEAP);
(d) "Eligible student" means a child or
				student, regardless of age, who would have access to free or reduced-price
				school meals through the national school lunch program (NSLP) and school
				breakfast program (SBP) during the school year, who is:
(i) Enrolled in a school or registered in a
				program in Washington state that normally participates in the NSLP;
(ii) Attending a school that has been closed
				or has reduced attendance or hours for five or more consecutive days during the
				school year due to the COVID-19 PHE designation; and
(iii) Determined by the school to be eligible
				for free or reduced-priced school meals or attends a school that operates the
				community eligibility provision or the provision 2 lunch and breakfast program.
				Students are identified as eligible for free or reduced-price school meals
				using direct certification or free or reduced-price school meals
				application;
(e) "Free
				or reduced-price school meals" means meals provided to students qualified as
				eligible by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act;
(f) "Meal service" means the typical meals
				(SBP and NSLP) served when school is in session and consumed on-site as part of
				the school day. Meal service includes both breakfast and lunch.
(g) "Operating days" are days a school
				regularly operates, excluding weekends, breaks, and holidays;
(h) "P-EBT card" means the unique electronic
				benefit transfer (EBT) card that accesses P-EBT food benefits issued to
				eligible students or children under age six;
(i) "Public health emergency" means a federal
				declaration of a public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic as issued
				by the secretary of health and human services;
(j) "School" means any public or nonprofit
				private schools, charter schools, and tribal compact schools within the state
				of Washington;
(k) "School closure"
				means that the school was closed for in-per-son or remote learning with no meal
				service available to students enrolled in the school;
(l) "Summer period" means the months of July
				and August between the end of the school year and the start of the next school
				year.