CalFresh and P-EBT system issues - one child 'not in system' despite qualifying, other gets benefits without missing school?

the system is completly messed up rn... my neighbor has 3 kids at same school, 2 got cards 1 didnt. nobody can explain why!!! its like they just flip coins to decide who gets benefits lol

The P-EBT program is separate from regular CalFresh, even though both use EBT cards. For the 2025 P-EBT distribution, schools submit attendance records to the state, which then determines eligibility. There are a few possible explanations for what you're experiencing: 1. Your daughter's attendance records may not have been properly submitted by the school 2. Your son might qualify under different criteria (like if your household income changed mid-year) 3. There could simply be a data error in the system The best approach is to contact your children's school nutrition office directly. They can verify what records were submitted to the state and may be able to request a correction. The P-EBT hotline representatives often have limited access to the actual data that determined eligibility.

I HAD THE EXACT SAME ISSUE!!! Called P-EBT hotline 12 times before someone picked up, only to be told my daughter with chronic asthma who missed 14 days isn't eligible but my son who missed ONE day is getting a card. When I asked why they just kept saying "the system determines eligibility" and wouldn't give a real answer. The whole thing is RIDICULOUS. Whoever designed this system should be fired honestly.

This sounds frustrating but there's actually a process to request reconsideration for P-EBT eligibility. Here's what you should do: 1. Contact your school's nutrition services office first (as suggested above) 2. If they confirm your child should be eligible, ask them to provide a letter stating their qualifying attendance records 3. Call the P-EBT hotline again and specifically request a "P-EBT eligibility review" - this is different than just asking about status 4. Be prepared to provide your child's full name, date of birth, school name, and your CalFresh case number P-EBT benefits can be awarded retroactively, so don't worry about missing out completely. Their system is processing millions of records and errors do happen.

My kid attends Johnson Elementary and we've been on CalFresh for years too, but dealing with these programs always gives me headaches! Speaking of the P-EBT hotline, I spent almost two weeks trying to get through last month for a similar issue. My daughter's card was sent to our old address even though I updated our info with CalFresh. So annoying that these systems don't talk to each other!

I work with families navigating benefit systems, and the P-EBT issue you're describing is unfortunately common this year. The state is using a new data system that doesn't always match records correctly. Here's what's often helpful: instead of calling the general P-EBT hotline, try using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get connected directly to a CalFresh eligibility worker at your county office. They sometimes have more access to the underlying data and can initiate a different type of review. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8. I've had several clients successfully resolve P-EBT issues this way because county workers can sometimes access both systems.

This happened to me last year actually!! Called about 20 times and got nowhere. What finally worked was emailing our district's nutrition services director (found email on school website). She forwarded something to the state office and my kid's card arrived 3 weeks later. Worth trying if the phone calls aren't helping.

Anyone else notice that the eligibility rules keep changing? For the first round of P-EBT in 2022 you needed like 5+ excused absences, then in 2023 it was any absences related to Covid, now in 2025 nobody seems to know what the actual criteria are. My kids' school sent home a flyer that said one thing, the website says another, and the phone reps say something completely different. And it's not like we're getting enough CalFresh to begin with in this economy...

Update: I finally got some answers! I talked to our school's nutrition services coordinator this morning, and she was super helpful. Turns out there was a data entry error where my daughter's student ID was entered incorrectly when they submitted records to the state. They're sending a correction form, but she said it might take 4-6 weeks to process. She also confirmed my son shouldn't be eligible based on attendance, so that's still a mystery. Thank you all for your suggestions and support - this community has been so helpful when navigating these confusing systems!