PEBT amount confusion - $202 for only 1 week of COVID absence seems high?
My high schooler got a Pandemic EBT card in the mail yesterday with $202 on it (initials IR on the card). She only missed 5 days of school back in January due to COVID, so I'm confused about the amount. This seems really high for just one week of absence? She's in 9th grade at Lincoln High. Is this amount correct or did they make a mistake? I don't want to spend it and then have to pay it back if they issued too much. Has anyone else received PEBT recently with similar amounts? I thought these benefits ended ages ago!
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Ahooker-Equator
OMG my situation is exatcly opposite! My son missed 3 weeks of school (COVID + strep throat right after) and only got $148 on his PEBT. I've been trying to call the county for 2 weeks now. no one picks up!!! super frustrating. maybe they mixed up our kids benefits lol.
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Abigail bergen
•That's so weird! I wonder if there's a mistake in their system. Have you tried checking the PEBT website? I'm nervous about using this card if it's the wrong amount.
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Anderson Prospero
The PEBT amount is based on multiple factors, not just the exact days missed. For the 2024-2025 school year, they're using a formula that considers whether your child receives free/reduced meals regularly, the base rate for your district, and sometimes even the month when the absence occurred (rates changed mid-year). The $202 could be correct if your daughter qualifies for free/reduced lunch normally. Also, some schools are issuing retroactive payments that cover previously uncounted COVID absences from prior months.
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Abigail bergen
•She does get free lunch at school through the universal program they started. I didn't realize they factor that in! That makes more sense. So it's probably correct then? I don't have to worry about them asking for it back?
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Tyrone Hill
my kids got similar amounts earlier this year. just use it, its fine!!
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Toot-n-Mighty
•same. my daughter got $180 last month for missing 4 days with covid. the amounts don't seem to make any sense but hey free groceries right?
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Lena Kowalski
The PEBT program was actually extended through the 2024-2025 school year, though many people don't realize this. The standard payment for high school students is approximately $40-45 per day of COVID-related absence in most California districts. So for 5 days, $202 is actually right in line with expected benefits. The initials on the card (IR) are just batch processing identifiers and don't affect the benefit amount. As long as you reported the COVID absence to the school properly and they recorded it as excused, you should be fine using these benefits. They're specifically intended to offset the meals your child would have received at school.
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Abigail bergen
•Thank you! That's really helpful. Yes, we did report it properly and got a doctor's note. I had no idea they were still doing PEBT for this school year - that's great news for families.
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Ahooker-Equator
So I finally found out why my son's amount was so low - apparently they only counted the COVID days not the strep throat days even though they were back to back and all medically excused! The system is so frustrating. I've been calling the PEBT hotline for days and keep getting disconnected after waiting for like an hour.
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DeShawn Washington
•If you're struggling to get through to anyone about your PEBT benefits, I'd recommend trying Claimyr. It saved me SO much time when I was dealing with a similar issue last month. They basically wait on hold for you and then call you when a real person answers. I watched their demo video (https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8) and it was super easy to use. Their website is claimyr.com. For PEBT issues specifically, they can connect you directly to a worker instead of waiting through all those automated menus.
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Mei-Ling Chen
wait isnt this a calfresh forum?? PEBT is totally different program lol... you should be asking in the school benefits group
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Lena Kowalski
•While PEBT and CalFresh are different programs, they're both administered through CDSS and use the same EBT card system. Many families receive both benefits, and the county offices often handle questions about both programs. It's perfectly reasonable to discuss PEBT issues here since there's significant overlap in eligibility and administration.
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Toot-n-Mighty
My niece got like $350 for missing 2 days!!! The amounts are crazy and make no sense. not that I'm complaining lol
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Anderson Prospero
•That's unlikely for just 2 days of absence. The $350 likely included other factors - perhaps retroactive payments from previous months that weren't processed, or your niece might attend a school with higher reimbursement rates. There's also a possibility the parent/guardian misunderstood what period the payment covered. PEBT calculations follow specific formulas based on the school's meal rates, days missed, and whether the child qualifies for free/reduced lunch.
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Abigail bergen
UPDATE: So I called the number on the back of the PEBT card and finally got through to someone. They confirmed the amount is correct! The $202 covers the 5 days she missed, plus there was a small supplemental amount for January's benefits that got added retroactively because of some policy change. They said I should definitely use it and not worry about having to pay it back. Thanks everyone for your help!
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Tyrone Hill
•glad u got it figured out! the extra money always helps with groceries these days
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