Anyone received their P-EBT 3.0 cards for CalFresh yet? Still waiting for mine

Got mine last Thursday!! For both my kids. Check ur address is correct on BenefitsCal portal bc they mail to whatever is listed there not ur EBT address necessarily

The P-EBT 3.0 cards are being distributed in phases based on county and school district. They started mailing in May 2025 and will continue through August 2025. The distribution isn't based on alphabetical order or CalFresh status - it's based on how quickly your school district submitted their data to CDSS. A few things to check: 1. Make sure your mailing address is updated in both your school district records AND BenefitsCal portal 2. Confirm your children were enrolled in free/reduced meals for the 2024-2025 school year 3. Check that your children attended a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program If all those are confirmed, it's likely just a matter of waiting. P-EBT customer service line (877-328-9677) can sometimes tell you if your cards have been issued yet, but they're overwhelmed with calls right now.

I was in your exact situation last week - anxiously waiting for my kids' P-EBT cards. After getting disconnected multiple times from the P-EBT hotline, I tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual county worker. It got me connected in about 15 minutes instead of hours of redial frustration. The worker confirmed my cards had been issued but gave me a more specific delivery date range for my zip code. Totally worth it to get some peace of mind. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8

The county worker I reached could see both my CalFresh and P-EBT status in their system. They told me P-EBT 3.0 is being distributed by zip code in waves, and they gave me a 2-week window for when my area should receive cards. Apparently, the automated system doesn't have this specific info, but the workers can see which distribution wave your zip code falls into.

Lemme tell u something about these P-EBT cards... DONT wait for them to show up!! My daughters card got lost in mail last year and i didnt realize until everyone else had them. Then i had to wait FOUR MONTHS for replacement!!! Call the number every day until u get thru. When u get a real person ask if theyve been mailed yet and if they have ask for the card number so u can check balance. THATS how ill know if mine was sent this time!!!!

To clarify some confusion in this thread: 1. P-EBT 3.0 eligibility is still based on enrollment in free/reduced meals through the National School Lunch Program for the 2024-2025 school year. There's no additional income verification needed. 2. Distribution is primarily by school district submission timing, then by county, and finally by zip code batches - which is why even people in the same zip code might receive cards days or weeks apart. 3. The P-EBT hotline (877-328-9677) is separate from CalFresh customer service, but county eligibility workers often have access to see if your cards have been issued (not always the balance though). 4. If it's been more than 30 days since others in your district/area received their cards, that's when you should become more persistent about contacting them about a potentially lost card. According to the CDSS website, they expect all initial P-EBT 3.0 cards to be mailed by end of August 2025, so there's still time for regular distribution.

btw dont throw away the envelope they come in!!! there's an info sheet explaining how much ur supposed to get per kid & when the payments will load. i almost tossed mine thinking it was junk mail

its just a plain white envelope but it says "official business" from California DSS... the return address is sacramento. easy to miss honestly

ALSO another thing they dont tell u is that u HAVE TO activate the card within 30 days of getting it or they can deactivate it!!! happened to my cousin last year and was HUGE headache to fix. the activate number is on sticker on card

Just to prevent panic: You don't have to activate P-EBT cards within 30 days of receiving them. The cards remain valid for one year after issuance. You should activate them when you receive them, but there's no 30-day deactivation policy. What can happen is if you report a card lost/stolen and then find the original, the original will be deactivated 30 days after reporting it lost. The confusion might be from the regular EBT card policy, which does require contact with the card within 365 days to keep it active. P-EBT follows different rules.