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did u try that claimyr thing someone mentioned? my friend used it for her medi-cal issue and said it actually worked. might be worth it if ur desperate to talk to someone
I used Claimyr when my renewal was messed up and it actually worked pretty well. They called me when they reached someone at the county office. Saved me hours of hold time. Definitely worth it in an emergency situation like this.
UPDATE: I wanted to let everyone know what happened. I took all your advice and it really helped! I called EBT customer service again and specifically asked for the CF-303 form. They emailed it to me and I filled it out right away. I also filed a police report online (they gave me a report number immediately). I couldn't get through to my county office by phone after trying for hours, so I used that Claimyr service someone recommended. It worked! They got me through to a actual person at the county in about 40 minutes. The worker told me they could process an emergency replacement request that would be reviewed within 48 hours because I had children in the household. I also went to the food bank this morning and they gave us enough to get by for a few days. Thank you all for your help during this nightmare!
This is excellent news! I'm so glad you were able to get through. The 48-hour review is exactly what should happen in cases with children in the household. Make sure to follow up if you don't hear anything by the end of the second business day. And great job getting to the food bank as well - that's exactly what they're there for.
my kid goes to regular school not virtual and we still haven't got our pebt card either lol... whole system is a mess this year
UPDATE: I called the actual P-EBT hotline (not CalFresh) and after waiting for almost an hour, I finally got through! The representative confirmed that LAUSD Virtual Academy IS participating in P-EBT, but there was some kind of system error with how virtual students were being coded. She said they're aware of the issue and working on fixing it for all affected students. Apparently, benefits should be issued by the end of next month for everyone affected by this coding problem. She added a note to our case to make sure we don't get missed. Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions!
Great news! This is exactly what I suspected - a coding issue in their system. Make sure to keep that confirmation number or case note ID they gave you, just in case you need to reference it later. Glad you got it sorted out!
Let me clarify the P-EBT vs. EBT Restaurant Meals Program confusion since there's some misinformation here: 1. P-EBT (Pandemic EBT) was created to help families with children who would normally receive free/reduced school meals. These benefits can ONLY be used at retailers that sell groceries. 2. Regular CalFresh EBT has the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) in certain counties, but ONLY for people who are: - 60 years or older - Disabled - Homeless - AND have an active CalFresh case 3. Even if you qualify for RMP with your regular EBT, your P-EBT card follows different rules and cannot be used at restaurants. 4. You can check your P-EBT balance and transaction history at www.ebt.ca.gov or by calling the number on the back of your card. The 2025 P-EBT benefits are specifically designed to supplement grocery purchases, not restaurant meals. Hope this helps!
my kid got p-ebt 2 and its confusing cuz the card looks almost the same as my calfresh card!! but ya cant use it at mcdonalds or anywhere like that even tho they might have the ebt sign. i tried once at jack in box and it didnt work. wish they would make it more clear on the instuctions they send!!
Thanks for all the responses everyone! I feel a lot better knowing it's normal for the cards to arrive at different times. I'll just keep checking the mail for my 1-year-old's card. I activated my son's card yesterday and was surprised by the amount on it! For anyone else wondering, there was $391 loaded on it for summer 2024 benefits.
That's partially correct. The P-EBT benefits won't expire for one year from the date they were issued. However, if the card remains inactive (never activated) for 274 days, it will be canceled. So make sure to at least activate the card within that timeframe, even if you don't use the benefits immediately.
Ravi Sharma
Has anyone tried going to their local office in person about this? I'm wondering if showing up might get faster results than calling.
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Isabella Santos
•My sister went in person to the San Bernardino office last week and said it was PACKED with people there about theft issues. She waited 3 hours just to be told they can't expedite individual cases and she has to wait like everyone else. Total waste of time imo
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Freya Larsen
Just wanted to provide an update - I've now heard from several clients that replacements for benefits stolen between May 1-10 are being processed this week and next. If your benefits were stolen after May 10th, you're looking at early June for replacement. The state has actually allocated additional staff to help counties process these claims faster, but there were over 40,000 theft reports in May alone across California, which is why it's taking so long. The good news is they are absolutely replacing the benefits - it's just a matter of when. I'd recommend checking your EBT account online every morning as replacements are often being loaded overnight with no notification.
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QuantumLeap
•Thank you for this update! Ours were stolen on May 8th so hopefully we'll see something soon. It's just been so hard making food stretch this long. I appreciate you sharing this timeline info - at least now we have some idea when to expect help.
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