MADISON (NBC 26) — Families of children who have missed out on reduced or free school meals due to COVID-19 shutdowns will soon receive assistance from the state. Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Friday that children in that category will receive benefits beginning later this month.
In the December stimulus package, DHS said Congress authorized the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to renew the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program, or P-EBT, for the 2020-2021 school year.
According to DHS, Wisconsin’s plan for providing benefits has been approved by FNS, and eligible families will begin seeing notifications and benefits in late March and early April. Benefits will be provided retroactively to the beginning of the school year. More than 350,000 families received P-EBT during the final months of the 2019-2020 school year, DHS says.
More information on qualifications for the program can be found here.