When will Summer EBT cards reload for 2025? Any official dates announced?

The Summer EBT for 2025 should be loaded between June 10-20th according to the county worker I spoke with last week. It's now a permanent program (not just COVID-related anymore) and eligible families should get about $120 per child for the summer months. Make sure your address is updated in the system since they sometimes mail new cards if you haven't received Summer EBT before.

Depends on ur county. My county (Los Angeles) said June 15th but they ALWAYS late with everything. Last year didn't get ours til July even tho they said June. Its ridiculous how they expect us to feed our kids with these delays!!!

Just to clarify some misconceptions - Summer EBT is different from CalFresh, though both use EBT cards. Summer EBT is specifically for school-aged children during summer break and provides additional food benefits when school meals aren't available. The program is now permanent nationwide and benefits should load approximately when summer break begins in your school district. For 2025, most California counties will distribute benefits between June 10-25, depending on your county and alphabetical distribution groups. If you received Summer EBT last year, they will reload the same card. New participants will receive a new card in the mail. Benefit amount is $120 per eligible child for the whole summer. You don't need to apply separately if your children receive free/reduced school meals or you receive CalFresh, CalWORKs, or Medi-Cal.

If your children receive reduced-price meals at school, you should automatically be enrolled in Summer EBT. However, it's always good to check. I recommend calling your county office to confirm your eligibility and that they have your current address. If you're having trouble getting through on the county phone lines, I recently discovered a service called Claimyr that really helped me. It keeps your place in line and calls you back when a worker is available. Saved me hours of waiting. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 or visit claimyr.com. Much better than listening to that hold music for hours!

my neighbor works for calfresh and she told me most counties are sending out summer ebt in batches this year. like A-M last names first week of June, N-Z second week. but yeah its different from regular calfresh it comes on separate card

Wait I'm confused. Is Summer EBT the same as P-EBT? We got P-EBT during covid but I thought that ended???

just called my county (Alameda) and they said June 12th-30th depending on your last name. The lady said they're sending text notifications when it's loaded this year if you have your phone number updated in BenefitsCal.

Thanks everyone for all this helpful info! I just updated my phone number in BenefitsCal hoping to get the text notification. Our last name starts with W so looks like we'll be in the later batch. At least now I can plan accordingly. Much appreciated!

I'm new to this program and this thread has been super helpful! Just to add - if anyone is in Orange County, I called yesterday and they said they're aiming for June 16th for the first batch (A-L) and June 23rd for the second batch (M-Z). They also mentioned that if you move during the summer, you need to update your address ASAP because they can't reissue cards easily once the program starts distributing. Also learned that the $120 is per child, not per household, which is awesome for families with multiple kids!

Just wanted to share what I found out from Riverside County - they're doing their distribution June 14th-28th in alphabetical batches too. The worker I spoke with mentioned that if you haven't received Summer EBT before but think you're eligible, you can also check the CA.gov/SummerEBT website to see if there's an application portal for your county. Some counties have online applications for families who might have been missed in the automatic enrollment. Also learned that the benefits don't roll over year to year, so make sure to use them before the expiration date (usually end of August/early September). Hope this helps other newcomers like me!