P-EBT system can't locate my 14-year-old daughter who received previous benefits - anyone else?
Super frustrated right now! Just got off the phone with the P-EBT customer service line because my daughter still hasn't received her latest P-EBT card. The representative told me they "can't locate her in the system" which makes ZERO sense because she's received P-EBT 2.0 and the round before that with no issues! She's 14 years old and definitely still enrolled in the same school. Has anyone else been told their kid "can't be located" even though they got previous P-EBT benefits? Did you resolve it? My daughter's school definitely participates in free lunch program and we're already on CalFresh, so she should automatically qualify. What should I do next?
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Gemma Andrews
Yes, this happened with my son last month! The P-EBT system and the CalFresh database don't always communicate well. The key is making sure your daughter's school records match EXACTLY with what's in the CalFresh system - same spelling of name, same birthdate, same address. Even small differences can cause the system to not recognize her. Call your daughter's school first to verify what info they have on file, then contact your county CalFresh office to make sure the records match. If everything matches, ask your county worker to submit a special request to the P-EBT team to manually locate her record.
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Lena Schultz
•Thank you! That's actually really helpful. Her school might have our old apartment listed since we moved last summer and I only updated it with the county. I'll check with the school tomorrow and then follow up with our CalFresh worker.
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Pedro Sawyer
omg the SAME THING just happened to me with my twins!!! called the p-ebt line three times and got three different answers. so annoying!! one person said they weren't in the system, another said the cards were mailed 3 weeks ago, and another said they were still processing!! like which is it???
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Lena Schultz
•Ugh, that's so frustrating! Did you ever figure out which answer was correct? I've only called once so far but now I'm wondering if I should try again and see if I get a different response.
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Pedro Sawyer
•the third time i called they finally found my kids in the system but said there was a "processing error" whatever that means 🙄 they said they fixed it and new cards should come in 10-15 business days but im not holding my breath
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Mae Bennett
This is actually a known issue with the latest P-EBT rollout. The system was updated and some previously enrolled children are showing as "not located" even though they received prior benefits. It's affecting mostly teenagers for some reason. You need to file what's called a "P-EBT Case Review Request" - but you can't do this through the regular P-EBT phone line. You'll need to contact your county CalFresh office directly and ask them to submit this special request form. Make sure to have your daughter's student ID number, the dates she received previous P-EBT benefits, and her school information ready. The county worker should be able to escalate your case to the state P-EBT processing team, which can manually resolve the issue. It typically takes 30 days to process these special requests.
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Lena Schultz
•Thank you so much for this detailed information! I didn't know about the Case Review Request process. I'll try to contact our county office tomorrow - although getting through to an actual person is always a nightmare. Fingers crossed!
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Beatrice Marshall
•If you're having trouble reaching your county CalFresh worker, you might want to check out Claimyr.com. I was in the same boat - couldn't get through to anyone about my P-EBT issue for weeks. Claimyr had the county office call ME back within 20 minutes. Saved me hours of waiting on hold. They have a demo video here: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 that shows how it works. Totally worth it when you're dealing with urgent benefit issues like missing P-EBT cards.
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Melina Haruko
i think its cuz they changed the way they do p-ebt this year. my nephew had the same problem but then the card just showed up one day even after they said he wasnt in the system. maybe just wait a couple more weeks?
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Lena Schultz
•That gives me some hope! How long did it take between them saying he wasn't in the system and the card arriving?
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Melina Haruko
•like 3 weeks maybe? not sure exactly. my sister handles all that stuff for him
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Dallas Villalobos
THE WHOLE P-EBT SYSTEM IS A JOKE!!! Been dealing with this EXACT issue for TWO MONTHS with my daughter's card. Called 15+ times, submitted paperwork TWICE, and still NOTHING!!! They keep saying "we'll escalate your case" but NOTHING HAPPENS!! Meanwhile my daughter QUALIFIES and should have received benefits MONTHS AGO!!! The state doesn't care about feeding our kids - they just make it IMPOSSIBLE to actually get the benefits we're entitled to!!! It's CRIMINAL how they treat families!!!!!
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Lena Schultz
•Oh no, that's really disheartening to hear you've been fighting this for two months with no resolution. I'm worried we'll end up in the same situation. Did you try contacting your local state representative's office? I've heard they can sometimes help with benefit issues.
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Dallas Villalobos
•No but that's a good idea actually. I'll try that next week. This whole thing is just so EXHAUSTING. Like we don't have enough to deal with already????
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Reina Salazar
Let me clarify something important about P-EBT: unlike regular CalFresh, P-EBT is administered at the state level, not the county level. However, the information used to determine eligibility comes from both school districts AND the CalFresh database. The most common issues causing the "can't locate" problem are: 1. Name mismatch (even differences in hyphenation or middle names) 2. Address changes not updated in both systems 3. School transfer not properly recorded 4. Birthdate entry errors The fastest resolution path is: 1. Verify all personal information with both the school and CalFresh is identical 2. Contact the P-EBT hotline again with the corrected information 3. If still unresolved, request a "Case Review" through your CalFresh worker 4. Provide documentation showing previous P-EBT benefits The state is working through a significant backlog due to system changes, but they are resolving these cases - it just requires persistence.
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Lena Schultz
•This is incredibly helpful - thank you! I checked with my daughter's school today and discovered they have her listed with a slightly different last name spelling (they have "Rodriguez" while CalFresh has "Rodriquez"). I'll follow these exact steps to get it resolved.
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Pedro Sawyer
has anyone been told they need to update their kids' immigration status or something? the person i talked to mentioned something about needing citizenship verification now but my kids were born here?? so confused
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Reina Salazar
•No, that's incorrect information. P-EBT eligibility has nothing to do with immigration or citizenship status. It's based solely on the child's enrollment in a school that participates in free/reduced lunch programs and household income eligibility. Whoever told you that was mistaken. I'd suggest calling again and speaking with a different representative.
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Gemma Andrews
Just wanted to follow up - were you able to resolve this issue? I'm curious what eventually worked since several families in my community are facing the same problem with the P-EBT system not recognizing children who received previous benefits.
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Lena Schultz
•Yes! It took about 3 weeks, but we finally got it resolved. The issue was exactly what you suggested - her name was spelled slightly differently in the school system vs. CalFresh records. I had to submit a Case Review Request through our county worker, and I provided copies of her previous P-EBT cards as proof she had received benefits before. Her new card arrived yesterday with all the backpay included. So relieved! Thanks again for your help.
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