What is the P-EBT 4.0 card for CalFresh? New to this program and confused
I just got something in the mail called a P-EBT 4.0 card for my kids, but I'm really confused because we already get regular CalFresh benefits on our EBT card. Is this something different? Do I need to activate it? The letter doesn't explain much and I don't want to miss out on benefits for my children if this is legitimate. Has anyone else received this P-EBT 4.0 card recently? I tried calling the number on the back but was on hold forever and eventually got disconnected.
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Emma Olsen
Yes, the P-EBT 4.0 card is legitimate and completely separate from your regular CalFresh EBT card! P-EBT stands for Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer. The 4.0 version is for the 2022-2023 school year and is being distributed in 2025 (they're always behind). It provides food benefits to families with children who would have received free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program but couldn't due to school closures or absences related to COVID-19. You should definitely activate it! Your kids can get several hundred dollars in food benefits depending on how many school days were affected. The funds can be used just like regular EBT at grocery stores and farmers markets.
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Christian Bierman
•Thank you for explaining! That makes so much more sense now. So it's basically extra food money because of COVID school closures? But my kids have been going to school regularly this year. Do we still qualify?
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Lucas Lindsey
P-EBT 4.0 is specifically covering the 2022-2023 school year, not the current one. It's the fourth round of these benefits and it took them quite a while to process and distribute. The qualification is based on whether your children were eligible for free/reduced school meals during that specific time period and if their school had COVID-related closures or if they had COVID-related absences. You should definitely activate the card and use the benefits - they're legitimate and separate from your regular CalFresh. The benefits will eventually expire if not used (usually after about a year).
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Sophie Duck
•my kids got these too!!! i was so confuse at first thought it was a scam lol. but we used it at walmart and safeway and it worked fine. got like $300 per kid which is awesome
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Austin Leonard
Is anyone else STILL waiting for their P-EBT 4.0 cards?? My neighbor got hers last week but mine hasn't shown up yet. My kids were definitely on free lunch during 2022-2023 so we should qualify! This system is so frustrating - they take YEARS to send these benefits and then give zero information about when to expect them. When I call the county office they just say "we don't handle P-EBT" and transfer me to a state line that NEVER ANSWERS!!
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Anita George
•The P-EBT program is run by the state, not county offices, which is why they can't help. Unfortunately, getting through to the P-EBT hotline can be almost impossible with how overloaded their system is. I had the same issue when trying to replace my son's lost P-EBT card last year. I actually used this service called Claimyr that helped me get through to a human at the P-EBT hotline without waiting on hold. They basically wait on hold for you and call you when a real person picks up. Saved me hours of frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8
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Abigail Spencer
my kid got p-ebt but im confused bc we dont get calfresh. we only get calworks. are they the same thing or different? the card looks different than my regular benefit card.
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Emma Olsen
•They're completely different programs. P-EBT is specifically for children who were eligible for free/reduced school meals. You don't need to be on CalFresh to get P-EBT. The card is different because it's administered directly by the state rather than through your regular benefits system. CalWORKs is cash assistance, while P-EBT (like CalFresh) can only be used for food purchases. So you're getting both, which is correct if you qualify for both programs.
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Logan Chiang
I had my P-EBT card from last year and didn't know you could keep using it! When I got the new 4.0 card I thought it replaced the old one but apparently they just add the new benefits to whatever card is most recent. Check your old card if you had one - I found $200 still on mine from the last round! The whole system is so confusing and they do a terrible job explaining anything.
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Christian Bierman
•Thanks for the tip! I don't think we received one before, this seems to be our first one. Do you know if there's a way to check the balance without calling that impossible phone number?
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Lucas Lindsey
To check your P-EBT balance without calling, you can: 1. Use the Connect EBT mobile app (available for both iPhone and Android) 2. Check online at connectebt.com 3. Look at your last receipt from a store where you used the card Make sure you're using the P-EBT card number, not your regular EBT card. They're tracked in the same system but are separate accounts. And yes, you should definitely activate the card as soon as possible. Benefits typically expire after a year of inactivity.
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Christian Bierman
•Perfect, thank you! I just downloaded the app and was able to set everything up. We have $365 per child on the card, which is going to be so helpful for our grocery budget. Appreciate everyone's help explaining this!
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Sophie Duck
i herd they might do a P-EBT 5.0 for last school year too (2023-2024) but not sure if its true. anybody know?
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Emma Olsen
•There are rumors, but nothing official has been announced about a P-EBT 5.0 program yet. The federal authorization for the program was extended, but each state has to apply for and implement it separately. California has typically been pretty good about participating in these programs, but there's always a significant delay between the school year and when benefits are actually issued. If your children qualify for free/reduced lunch, it's worth keeping your address updated with their school district so you'd receive any future P-EBT cards if they do get approved.
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