Has anyone received their P-EBT 3.0 card in Fresno County yet? Still waiting after promised October mailing
Getting so frustrated waiting for my kids' P-EBT 3.0 cards here in Fresno. The website said October distribution for our county, but it's already mid-October and nothing in my mailbox! I have three school-aged children (grades 2, 5, and 7) who qualified according to the eligibility letter we got in September. Anyone else still waiting? Have any Fresno families received theirs yet? I called the P-EBT hotline twice but just get stuck in the automated system. Need these benefits for groceries since prices are insane right now. My regular CalFresh only covers about half the month with these hungry kids!
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Zainab Ali
Just got my 4yr old's P-EBT card yesterday in Merced!! It was mailed Oct 3 according to the envelope date. Check ur informed delivery if u have usps account. Might be coming this week for fresno??
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Miguel Herrera
•Thanks for letting me know! At least they're actually sending them out somewhere in the Valley. I don't have informed delivery set up but maybe I should. Did yours come in a special envelope or just regular mail that could be mistaken for junk?
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Connor Murphy
The P-EBT distribution is happening by county in phases. Merced is in distribution phase 2, while Fresno is in phase 3 which starts October 15-31 according to the official schedule. Your cards should be coming in the next two weeks. Each child gets their own card with their name on it, and they'll come in regular white envelopes that look like government mail. Keep an eye out, and don't throw anything away that looks like it might be official.
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Miguel Herrera
•Thank you for the timeline! I didn't realize there were different phases by county. I'll watch for white envelopes carefully the next two weeks.
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Yara Nassar
my kids nevr got there cards from last year p-ebt and now were suposed to get new ones?? this is so confuzing, does anyone know if they combine the benifits if u didnt use the old ones
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Connor Murphy
•No, they don't combine benefits from previous P-EBT programs. Each P-EBT program is separate. If your children never received their cards from last year's program (P-EBT 2.0), you should call the P-EBT hotline at 877-328-9677 to request replacement cards for those specific benefits. The new P-EBT 3.0 cards will be separate.
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StarGazer101
I've been trying to reach someone at the P-EBT hotline for THREE DAYS about my missing cards from last time, and I keep getting disconnected after waiting 45+ minutes! So frustrating! Has anyone had success actually talking to a human there? My kids qualified for the free lunch program all last year but we never got anything, and now I'm worried the new cards will also get lost.
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Keisha Jackson
•I had the same problem but found a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to a P-EBT representative in about 15 minutes. They have this system where they wait on hold for you and call you back when a real person picks up. I was skeptical but it worked for me when I was trying to sort out my daughter's missing P-EBT card. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8. Saved me hours of frustration.
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StarGazer101
•Thanks for the tip! I'll check that out. At this point I'll try anything because these endless hold times are driving me crazy.
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Paolo Romano
Important to know: P-EBT is NOT the same program as CalFresh, even though both use EBT cards. P-EBT is specifically for children who would have received free or reduced-price school meals. The eligibility and distribution are completely different, and you contact different offices for help with each program. For P-EBT issues, you can only use the P-EBT hotline (877-328-9677). Your regular CalFresh worker can't help with P-EBT problems. And yes, Fresno is in Phase 3 distribution right now, so cards should arrive by end of October.
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Yara Nassar
•wait so is it school lunch money or food stamps? my kids get the free lunch at school alredy so why do they need cards?
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Paolo Romano
@confused_parent The P-EBT program provides food benefits to replace the meals children would have received at school during COVID-related closures and summer breaks. Even though schools are fully open now, the P-EBT 3.0 program is providing summer meal benefits for eligible children. If your children already qualify for free meals at school, they likely qualify for these P-EBT benefits too. The cards can be used at grocery stores just like regular EBT cards, but they're specifically to help with additional food costs when school meals aren't available (like during summer).
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Zainab Ali
•ya and u can save the money on the cards for a LONG time like 9 months i think. so dont worry about using it all at once
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Amina Diop
Just got my kids' P-EBT cards today in Fresno!!! They arrived together in separate envelopes. $402 on each card for my two elementary schoolers. Check your mail everyone!!!
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Miguel Herrera
•Really?! That gives me hope! I'm going to check my mail right now. Did they come in a specific type of envelope I should watch for?
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Amina Diop
•Plain white envelope with California return address. Easy to miss honestly, looks kinda like junk mail except for the state seal. My husband almost threw them away!
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Miguel Herrera
UPDATE: Still nothing in today's mail. Getting worried because we've had mail theft in our neighborhood before. Does anyone know if there's a way to check online if cards were mailed? Or request replacements if they were stolen?
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Connor Murphy
•There's no online tracking system for P-EBT cards unfortunately. If you believe your cards were stolen, you'll need to wait until November 1st (when all Phase 3 counties should have completed distribution) and then call the P-EBT hotline to report non-receipt and request replacements. Make sure you have your children's student ID numbers and school information handy when you call.
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Keisha Jackson
When you finally get your cards, remember to create a PIN immediately! The cards are useless until you activate them with a PIN. Call the number on the back of the card to set it up. I learned this the hard way standing embarrassed at checkout when my daughter's card kept getting declined. 🤦♀️
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Miguel Herrera
•Good tip! I'll make sure to do that right away. Do the benefits expire if you don't use them quickly?
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Connor Murphy
•P-EBT 3.0 benefits will remain available for 274 days (about 9 months) from the date they're issued. So you don't need to rush to spend them, but do activate the cards right away so they're ready when you need them.
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