Confused about P-EBT payments for children under 6 - Third payment coming or just two total?

Thanks for responding! Did your benefit papers come in the mail? I never got anything explaining the payments, they just showed up on our card.

Oh that makes so much sense! Thank you for explaining. I bet that's why the other mom was confused too, because of last year's schedule. Really appreciate the clarification.

That information is actually referring to the School P-EBT program (for school-age children), not the Under 6 P-EBT program. The school program has different payment structures based on individual school situations like remote learning days. The Under 6 program is standardized with just two payments regardless of the child's specific circumstances, as long as the household receives CalFresh benefits.

I totally get your frustration with the phone system. Have you tried using Claimyr? It helped me finally get through to a real person about my P-EBT questions last month. I was stuck in the same loop of transfers and disconnects until I found it. Their system calls and navigates the phone tree for you, then calls you when they get a real person. Saved me hours of frustration. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 that shows how it works, and the website is claimyr.com if you want to check it out.

This is super helpful, thank you! One quick follow-up question - is there any way to check the total amount we should have received? I want to make sure we got the right benefit amount for my daughter.

Yes! The standard benefit amount for children under 6 in California for 2024-2025 is $43.50 per eligible month. So your first payment should have been approximately $174 (4 months × $43.50) and your second payment should have been approximately $217.50 (5 months × $43.50). The exact amounts might vary slightly based on individual circumstances and when your household was determined eligible for CalFresh, but those are the standard calculations.

You're right about Summer P-EBT, which is a separate program from the regular P-EBT benefits. Summer P-EBT 2025 hasn't been officially announced yet, but based on previous years, it would likely cover June-August 2025 and be issued around August/September. And yes, it typically includes both school-aged children AND children under 6 who are eligible for CalFresh, though the issuance dates and amounts may differ. We should get official announcement about it in the next month or so.

YES!! This happened to me too! Try calling the number on the back of the card to check your balance first before shopping. Sometimes the money isn't loaded exactly when they say it will be. Also some stores (like Target by me) always decline P-EBT for some reason even when I have a balance, but it works fine at grocery stores.

This happens to me too! Another tip - sometimes the card readers at stores don't recognize P-EBT cards right away. I've found that if it gets declined, asking the cashier to manually enter it as an EBT card (instead of swiping) usually works. Also, make sure you're only buying eligible food items - I got declined once because I accidentally had soap in my cart with my groceries. The cashier had to remove the non-food items and run it again.