Quick tip from someone who just went through this: Take a screenshot of your current balance before activating the new card! That way if there's any discrepancy you have proof of what was supposed to transfer. I did this and everything went smoothly, but better safe than sorry with something as important as food benefits.

the whole system is so frustrating why cant they just leave things alone my benefits got delayed last time they did a "system upgrade" and i couldnt feed my kids for 3 days

Just to clarify about the 11-month-old receiving a P-EBT card - there was a provision in the 2025 P-EBT extension that allowed benefits for children under 6 in CalFresh households in certain counties heavily impacted by school closures, regardless of school enrollment. San Bernardino County was one of these areas. That's likely why your baby received a card. The current issuance is for the summer 2025 period, and benefits should be spent within 274 days. They won't expire immediately, but don't wait too long to use them either. And yes, keep the physical cards even after spending the balance - if there are any supplemental payments, they'll be loaded onto the same cards.

You can check the balance on each P-EBT card in several ways: 1. Call the number on the back of each card and follow the automated prompts for balance inquiry 2. Visit the ConnectEBT website (connectebt.com) and register each card separately 3. Download the ConnectEBT mobile app (available for iPhone and Android) 4. Check your receipt after making a purchase The easiest ongoing method is probably the app once you've set everything up. Just remember that each P-EBT card needs to be registered individually, and the balances are separate from your regular CalFresh EBT account.

UPDATE: I finally got through to my county worker today! Turns out they had calculated our rent but NOT included any utility costs at all. They also had my husband's old income which was higher because he was working overtime last month but isn't anymore. The worker said I qualify for a utility allowance of about $450 and she's updating our income information. She's going to recalculate our benefit amount and said it should be significantly more than $10/month. She's also backdating it to this month since it was their error. Thank you everyone for your help! I'll update again when I see the new amount.

FINAL UPDATE: Just wanted to share that after the recalculation, my benefits went from $10/month to $625/month! Such a huge difference. The worker explained that with our corrected income and proper utility allowance plus the standard deduction for a family of 5, we were entitled to much more. They'll be issuing the additional benefits for this month within 3 days. I'm so relieved and grateful for everyone's advice here. Don't give up if your benefits seem wrong!

UPDATE: Finally got through to someone at the county office! They said the supplement was approved but got stuck in their system because of a "batch processing error" (whatever that means). The worker said she'd manually release it and I should see it on my EBT card within 3 business days. She also said this is happening to quite a few people right now because of a recent system update. If anyone else is having this problem, definitely keep trying to reach your county office. Thanks everyone for your help!

One more thing to keep in mind - make sure you check your balance daily once they say they've fixed it. Sometimes these supplements come through at odd hours and not necessarily on your regular benefit deposit day. Also, when you get it, check that the amount matches what you were approved for. I've seen cases where they fix the issue but only part of the benefit amount actually posts. If that happens, you'll need to call them again. Glad you got through to someone!

this happened to me last year!! my worker said we were getting another payment but it never came. when i finally got thru to someone they said my worker was confused and mixing up P-EBT with the regular CalFresh emergency allotments which ended years ago. so frustrating how even the workers dont understand the different programs!!!

My kids school sent home a flyer about summer EBT which is different from P-EBT maybe that's what your worker was talking about? It's for when school is out in summer so kids still get food money. Check if your state is doing that program maybe?