Background
History
The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) was signed into law in December 2023. It provides a one-time, non-cash, food benefit of $120 for each eligible child. Benefits are encoded on an EBT card and can be used at participating supermarkets and farmers markets to purchase food.
Summer EBT is modeled after the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program (P-EBT) which was passed in March 2020 by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. It was created to address the loss of school meals for children during school closures, due to COVID-19, by providing a food supplement on an EBT card to eligible families. P-EBT concluded in Summer 2023 and all benefits were issued, for more details on P-EBT click here.
Although modeled after P-EBT, Summer EBT eligibility requirements are different. For example, the Summer EBT program does not use the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) to determine eligibility for children, and will require an application for certain children.
Who Administers the Program
Summer EBT is administered by the NYS Office of Temporary Disability Assistance (OTDA).
Interagency Partners
There are several agencies involved in providing data to OTDA on who is eligible:
NYS Education Department (NYSED) - the NYSED will be sending student data over to OTDA to be processed for Summer EBT. NYSED will use several data sources to identify potentially eligible children, including the Student Information Repository System (SIRS), used by public, charter, and special education schools, and Information Data Exchange (IDEX), used by non-public schools (independent or religious school).
NYS Department of Health - will provide Medicaid data.
Funding
The federal government pays 100% of the Summer EBT benefits. Federal and state governments share the administrative costs, with both the federal and state governments contributing 50% of the cost to administer the program.
Summary of the Summer EBT Program
Summer EBT is a federally funded program that provides a one-time benefit of $120 for each eligible child which is encoded on an EBT card. Households will have 122 consecutive days from the date of issuance to use the benefit. Summer EBT benefits are NOT SNAP benefits; this is a separate food supplement benefit.
NYS OTDA will identify children who are automatically eligible to receive Summer EBT benefits without submitting an application. General qualifications may include: the age of the child, whether they are in receipt of SNAP, Cash Assistance or Medicaid, whether they attend a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and for some children there is an income requirement.
There are no resource requirements and no immigration criteria thus, children qualify regardless of immigration status, including those without documentation. Receiving this benefit does not count as a public charge.
For those who need to file an application this can be completed online or by printing and mailing the application.
The Summer EBT Customer Service Helpline: 1-833-452-0096, assistance is available Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Automated information is available 24/7.