Some of my kids missing from P-EBT 3.0 system despite all doing virtual learning - what to do?

yep same here!!! 2 of mine got it but my oldest didnt. called 6 times and kept getting told different things each time. one lady said he wasnt in the database, another said wait til end of month, another said fill out the appeal form online. idk what to believe anymore lol

I work with families applying for various benefits, and this is unfortunately a common issue with P-EBT 3.0. Here's what you need to know: 1. P-EBT 3.0 data comes from school districts, and sometimes they submit incomplete student lists or there are data matching errors 2. If some children in the same household received it but others didn't, this strongly suggests a data transmission issue rather than an eligibility problem 3. The best approach is to: - File a formal appeal through the P-EBT portal (https://calfresh.ca.gov/pebt/appeal) - Contact your school district's nutrition services department directly - Have your children's student ID numbers ready when you call - Ask specifically if all your children were included on the P-EBT eligibility list they submitted Keep documentation of all your calls and communications. The system is overwhelmed right now, but appeals are being processed. The good news is that benefits will be issued retroactively if your appeal is successful.

omg i HATE the p-ebt phone system!!! was on hold for 3 hrs yesterday and then got disconnected!!! 😡😡😡

I had this exact problem with 2 of my 3 kids missing from the P-EBT system. Here's what I did that actually worked: 1. I stopped trying with the regular P-EBT hotline - those reps don't have the ability to fix database issues 2. I tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to reach someone at my county CalFresh office instead - they have a service that holds your place in line and calls you back when a rep is available. Saved me hours of hold time! There's a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 3. The county worker was able to check a different database and confirmed my kids were eligible. She submitted an internal request to the state P-EBT team. 4. About 9 days later, cards arrived for my other two kids! The county offices seem to have better access to fix these issues than the regular P-EBT hotline. Worth trying this approach before filling out the appeal, which can take forever to process.

my sister works for the school district and she said theres a huge backlog of pebt applications they're still processing from february...she said if your kids are in different grades sometimes the district processes them in batches by grade level...maybe thats whats happening?

This is a common issue with P-EBT 3.0 that has multiple potential causes. As someone who helps families navigate benefit systems, I recommend a three-pronged approach: 1. File the formal appeal as mentioned by another commenter - this creates an official record 2. Contact your school district's nutrition services office (not just the general office) and ask them to verify all your children were included on their eligibility list 3. Request that the school district send a correction to the state PEBT processing unit if there was an error What's likely happening is either an incomplete data transmission from the school district or a mismatch between the name/DOB format in different systems. These technical errors are frustrating but fixable. Keep in mind that P-EBT benefits can be issued retroactively, so your children won't lose benefits they're entitled to even if there's a delay in processing. The current timeframe for appeals is averaging 21-28 days, though some are resolved faster.

The whole P-EBT system is a JOKE! They purposely make it impossible to reach anyone who can actually help. I spent TWO WEEKS trying to get through for my missing kids' benefits and kept getting different answers from every rep. One told me "oh they'll come later" and another said "no record found" and a third said "you need to appeal" - WHICH IS IT?? This is how they save money by making the process so frustrating we give up. And meanwhile our kids are hungry. The system is BROKEN.

Following up on my earlier comment - I want to clarify something important. P-EBT 3.0 is not directly connected to your regular CalFresh benefits. While it's administered through the same agencies, the databases and eligibility systems are separate. If your children are enrolled in a school that participates in free/reduced lunch programs and they were doing virtual learning during the qualifying period, they should be eligible regardless of your household income or regular CalFresh status. One thing to check: are all your children listed under the same primary guardian in the school system? Sometimes when kids have different primary contacts listed in school records (like one parent for some kids, another for others), this can cause processing issues in the P-EBT system.

update on my situation - i filled out the appeal form 2 weeks ago and just got an email yesterday saying my missing kid was approved! card should come in 7-10 days they said. so the appeal form DOES work but takes time