Alameda County P-EBT 2025 rollout - reusing old cards or getting new ones for CalFresh families?
Just wondering if anyone else in Alameda County is still waiting on their kids' P-EBT benefits for 2025? My 3 children (elementary and middle school) all qualified according to the letter we got in February, but it's now April and nothing has been loaded on their old cards yet. I've been checking the balance weekly and still zero. Also - are they reusing the old P-EBT cards from last year or sending new ones? I've kept all their cards just in case, but the school district person I talked to wasn't sure if we'll get new ones or if benefits get added to existing cards. I've tried calling the P-EBT hotline 3 times but can't get through to anyone who knows about the Alameda rollout schedule. Anyone have any info they can share?
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CyberSamurai
Same boat here!!! Been waiting since Feb too and NOTHING yet. My neighbor's kid got theirs last week tho (we're in Oakland) so maybe they're rolling out in batches? Kinda annoying they don't tell us exactly when.
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Andre Dubois
•Oh that's good to know they're starting to arrive in Oakland at least! What school does your neighbor's kid go to? I'm in Hayward and haven't heard of anyone getting them yet in our district.
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Zoe Alexopoulos
they definitely reuse the old cards!! DO NOT throw them away. my daughters benefits just showed up 3 days ago (were in san leandro) and it went right onto her old card from last year. no warning or notification it just appeared
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Andre Dubois
•Thanks so much! I'll definitely keep checking the old cards then. Was your deposit the full amount for the school year or just for one month?
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Zoe Alexopoulos
•it was $1375 which i think is for the whole school year
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Jamal Carter
The P-EBT 2025 distribution for Alameda County started on March 15th and will continue through May 30th in batches based on school district. They are indeed reusing the same cards from previous issuances unless those cards were reported lost/stolen/damaged. The schedule is approximately: - Oakland Unified: March 15-April 10 - Berkeley/Albany/Emeryville: April 1-20 - Hayward/San Leandro/San Lorenzo: April 15-May 5 - Fremont/Newark/New Haven: April 25-May 15 - Dublin/Pleasanton/Livermore: May 1-20 - Castro Valley/Other districts: May 10-30 If you're in Hayward, your issuance should be coming within the next few weeks. Make sure your address is current with your school district since that's what they use for benefit verification. Check your balance at www.ebt.ca.gov or by calling the number on the back of your card. If benefits don't arrive by the end of your district's window, then you should contact the P-EBT helpline at 877-328-9677. They're unlikely to have specific information before then.
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Andre Dubois
•Thank you so much for this detailed information! I had no idea they were doing it by district like that. We're in Hayward so I'll keep checking through early May before I worry too much. Really appreciate you sharing the schedule!
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Mei Liu
Our family got our P-EBT last week (we're in East Oakland) and it was loaded onto the old cards. I almost threw those cards away multiple times!!! Thank goodness I kept them. But honestly why can't they just add it to our regular CalFresh EBT?? It would be so much easier to manage! Now I have 4 different cards to keep track of...
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Zoe Alexopoulos
•omg i know right? i have like 5 cards now between regular calfresh and all the kids p-ebt cards from different years. so confusing!
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Jamal Carter
•They keep P-EBT separate from CalFresh because they operate under different federal programs with different funding sources and eligibility requirements. P-EBT is specifically tied to the National School Lunch Program eligibility, while regular CalFresh has its own qualification process. This is why they maintain separate card systems, even though it can be inconvenient for families managing multiple cards.
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Liam O'Donnell
If you're having trouble reaching someone on the P-EBT hotline, you might want to try using Claimyr. I was in the same situation last month trying to get information about my kids' P-EBT cards in San Francisco County, and the wait times were ridiculous. Claimyr helped me get through to an actual person in about 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours or getting disconnected. Basically, they wait on hold for you and call you back when a real person answers. I watched their demo video (https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8) and it was pretty straightforward. Their website is claimyr.com if you want to check it out. Once I finally got through, I found out they were indeed using the old cards and our benefits were scheduled for a specific week. Saved me a lot of anxiety just knowing when to expect it!
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CyberSamurai
•Is that service expensive? Im so tired of being on hold for HOURS with these benefit programs!!!
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Liam O'Donnell
•It was worth it for me just to not sit there all day on hold! Especially since I needed to know if I should be looking for new cards in the mail or checking the old ones. The peace of mind was definitely worth it. Their site explains everything if you're interested.
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Amara Nwosu
I'm also in Alameda County (Fremont) and we received partial benefits on our kids' old P-EBT cards last week. Only got $458 per child though, which seems low compared to last year. Anyone else notice this? I'm wondering if they're splitting the payments this year instead of one lump sum? And yes - they 100% are using the old cards. If you lost yours, you need to call the P-EBT hotline for replacement before your benefits get issued, otherwise it might cause delays.
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Andre Dubois
•That's interesting that you only got partial payment. I wonder if they're doing it in installments this year? Did you get any notice about that or explanation with the deposit?
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Amara Nwosu
•No explanation at all! Just checked the balance and there it was. I'm going to call next week to see if the rest is coming later. Will update here if I learn anything.
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AstroExplorer
This whole P-EBT system is SO BADLY MANAGED!!! Last year they sent us new cards even though we still had the old ones. Then those new cards never got activated properly. Then they told us benefits would come in June, then July, then finally in September!!! And now we're going through the same garbage again. The worst part is NOBODY seems to know what's happening. Not the schools, not the county workers, not even the state P-EBT hotline people! I spent 2.5 hours on hold last week to be told "just keep waiting" by someone who couldn't even tell me if Oakland had started distribution yet. Sorry for the rant but I'm just FED UP with how they handle these benefits that our kids need!!
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Andre Dubois
•No need to apologize - it IS frustrating! The lack of clear communication is the worst part. Even just a simple tracker on a website showing which districts are being processed would help so much.
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CyberSamurai
•PREACH!!! 👏👏👏
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Zoe Alexopoulos
quick tip: if you download the connectebt app you can check all your card balances there instead of having to call. that's how i noticed the benefits got added
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Andre Dubois
•Thanks for the tip! Just downloaded it and added our cards. Nothing there yet but at least now I can check easily.
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Mei Liu
Wait I'm confused... is P-EBT the same as CalFresh? My family gets CalFresh but I haven't heard anything about P-EBT. My kids are in middle school in San Leandro.
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Jamal Carter
•P-EBT (Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer) is different from regular CalFresh. P-EBT provides food benefits to children who would receive free or reduced-price meals at school under the National School Lunch Program. Your children automatically qualify for P-EBT if they receive free or reduced-price school meals OR if your family receives CalFresh. If your children attend school in San Leandro and you receive CalFresh, they should qualify for P-EBT. You might not have received notification yet because the benefits are being distributed in phases by district. San Leandro distribution should be happening between mid-April and early May according to the schedule. If your children previously received P-EBT, check those cards in the coming weeks. If they've never received P-EBT before, watch for new cards in the mail. You can also call the P-EBT helpline at 877-328-9677 to check eligibility status.
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Mei Liu
•Oh! Thank you for explaining. I didn't realize they were different programs. My kids do get free lunch at school so I guess we should be getting P-EBT too. I'll keep an eye out for cards in the mail since we've never received them before.
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