Anyone received P-EBT benefits for children 0-6 yet? Approval letter came but no card

still waiting 4 mine too! got the letter in feb for my 1 yr old but no card yet. this is so annoying, could really use the extra food money right now

Thanks for responding! How long do you think we should wait before contacting someone? The letter doesn't really give a timeframe beyond 'mid-March'...

I received the P-EBT cards for my children (ages 3 and 5) about two weeks ago. The cards came separately from the approval letters, which is different from how they handled the school-age P-EBT distributions. According to the P-EBT website, they're issuing cards in batches based on which county you live in, so some areas are getting them before others. If your approval letter came, the card should follow, but there is about a 4-6 week gap between letter and card from what I've seen in our local CalFresh Facebook group.

That's really helpful to know! I'm in Sacramento County - have you heard if they're still working through our area? 4-6 weeks would put me right about now, so maybe I'll get it any day.

Sacramento County is scheduled for the third wave of card distributions according to what I heard from a county worker. They started those mailings last week, so you should receive it very soon. If you don't get anything by April 15th, then I'd recommend contacting the P-EBT hotline again or asking your CalFresh worker.

I got the letter in January but just got the actual P-EBT card yesterday!!! And it had like $480 on it for my daughter. They're definitely coming but suuuuper slow. The letter and card came to different addresses for me too which was confusing - card went to my old address even though I updated my CalFresh address months ago. Might be worth checking if you've moved recently.

Oh that's a good point about the address! We did move last summer but I updated everything with CalFresh. I'll check with my old landlord to see if anything came there. Thanks for the tip!

my sister got hers last week but im still waiting for my kids and we both got the approval same day... makes NO sense how they doing this rollout!! anyone know why some people get it before others even in same county??

They're distributing P-EBT cards alphabetically by last name within each county group. So even within the same county, there can be a 2-3 week difference between when the first and last cards are mailed out.

oh that makes sense! my last name starts with W so guess im at the end of the line lol

When I had issues with my son's P-EBT card not arriving after 8 weeks, I tried calling the hotline for days but couldn't get through to anyone. I finally used this service called Claimyr that got me connected to a live person at the P-EBT office in less than 20 minutes! You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 or just go to claimyr.com. They helped me confirm my card was in the system and being mailed, plus they updated my address that somehow got messed up in their system even though my CalFresh info was correct. Saved me weeks of waiting and worrying!

Thanks for the suggestion! If my card doesn't come by next week, I'll definitely look into this. Getting through to an actual person would be so helpful.

does this actually work? ive been trying 2 call for a week and always get disconnected

I'm confused about the whole P-EBT thing. Is this different from our regular CalFresh EBT card? I have three kids under 6 and didn't get any letter about extra benefits. Does this mean we don't qualify? We've been on CalFresh since November 2024.

Yes, P-EBT is completely separate from your regular CalFresh benefits. P-EBT was created to help families with young children who qualify for food assistance programs during the post-pandemic recovery period. If you've been on CalFresh since November 2024, your children should qualify, but approval letters went out in batches. I'd recommend checking the P-EBT portal at ca.p-ebt.org to see if your children are in the system, or contact your county worker to ask about your status.

Thank you! I checked that website but it asked for a P-EBT case number which I don't have since I never got a letter. I'll try calling my caseworker tomorrow.

Just to clarify some confusion I'm seeing in this thread: The P-EBT benefits for children 0-6 years old in the 2025 program are being distributed between January and April 2025, with counties receiving them in three waves. Each eligible child receives their own P-EBT card, which is different from your regular CalFresh EBT card. If you received an approval letter, you're definitely in the system.\n\nThe most common reasons for delays are:\n1. Your county is in a later distribution wave\n2. Your mailing address in the P-EBT system is incorrect\n3. Your last name is later in the alphabet (they're sending alphabetically)\n\nIf it's been more than 6 weeks since your approval letter arrived, I would recommend contacting your county CalFresh office directly rather than the P-EBT hotline, as county workers have better access to the status information.

This is super helpful information, thank you! It's been exactly 6 weeks since my letter, so I'll give it one more week and then contact my county office.

GUYS!! Check your mail carefully! My kids' P-EBT cards came in a really plain white envelope that looked like junk mail. I almost threw it away thinking it was credit card spam because it just said

omg thank u for posting this!! i just checked my pile of mail again and found it!! thought it was junk mail fr

anyone else kids get different amounts? my 2yr old got $580 but my 5yr old only got $412?? both on same calfresh case

The P-EBT benefit amounts can vary by child based on several factors, including their exact age category and when they became eligible for CalFresh. Children who were eligible for the entire benefit period receive the maximum amount, while those who became eligible partway through receive prorated benefits. That's why your children received different amounts despite being on the same case.