P-EBT Eligibility Guidelines  · Starter Portal (2024)

The NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is automatically paying P-EBT Food Benefits in Spring 2023 to the following eligible children for the 2021-22 school year and Summer 2022:

• Children under age 6 who received Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the 2021-22 school year, including any eligible children who attended pre-kindergarten, will receive a benefit for each month from September 2021 through June 2022 that they received SNAP benefits. Eligible children will also receive a P-EBT Summer 2022 food benefit if they received SNAP benefits for the months of June, July, or August 2022; and

• K-12 children who missed school for 5 consecutive days per month, AND:

  • Attended a NYS National School Lunch Program (NSLP) participating school that submitted daily attendance records for the 2021-22 school year, AND:

  • Were eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) for the 2021-22 school year.

• Applications will only be accepted through September 30, 2023.

• NYS OTDA will process your application on or before December 31, 2023.

• If you are unable to access or complete the online application, please call our Helpline at 1-833-452-0096.

• You may submit applications for each of your eligible children on the Application website. You do not need to create separate NY.gov accounts for each child.

• Please note: OTDA cannot issue benefits to children who attended a school that did not submit enrollment or attendance information for the 2021-22 school year. If you believe your child is eligible for a 2021-22 school year or Summer 2022 benefit that they did not receive, you may contact the P-EBT Helpline at 1-833-452-0096 or email us through P-EBT information form found on our FAQ page. An email is not considered an application.

  See Also

  New York State Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) Food Benefits Frequently Asked Questions | SNAP COVID-19 Information | SNAPAs final NYC pandemic food benefits expire, some families will see more summer meal fundingNew York P-EBT (2021 Guide) - NY SNAP EBTSummer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

• For incomplete applications, after 15 days, we will send you a reminder inviting you to return and complete the application. After 30 days, your application will be permanently closed as incomplete.If needed, you may start a new application.

• If you are unsure if you should apply, you can call our Helpline at 1-833-452-0096, and after the representative confirms that you are the parent or guardian of the child you are calling about, the representative can walk you through each month for which your child has already received a benefit, and let you know if your child might be eligible to receive more per month if you submit an application.

• The Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 allows for pandemic related benefits to be issued only during the fiscal year in which the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) is in place. The PHE is ending on May 11, 2023, and payment of P-EBT benefits must be completed by December 31, 2023.

How do I apply for P-EBT Food Benefits? What information is requested in the application?

Step One: Please go to https://pebtbenefits.ny.gov and sign in to your NY.gov account by selecting the Sign In option on the menu.

• For more information about how to create a NY.gov account, please visit:

  http://its.ny.gov/nygov-id

Step Two: Select New Application

Step Three:

• For K-12 Applications

  Select Check K-12 School List and you will be brought to a page where you can search for the name of the NSLP-participating school that your child attended during the 2021-22 school year.

• Please note: You MUST be logged in to your NY.gov account to see the National School Lunch Program list of participating schools.

• Please note: We will only be accepting applications for children who attended schools that submitted attendance for the 2021-22 school year.

• If you do not see your child’s school on the NSLP participating list on our application website, you will be unable to apply. However, if your child’s school is not listed on the dropdown and you are unable to apply for a 2021-22 school year benefit, please note that your child may be eligible for a Summer 2022 or Summer 2023 benefit that will be issued on or before September 29, 2023. Please contact the P-EBT Helpline for additional information.




• For Pre-K Applications

  Select Start Pre-K Application

Step Four: NYS OTDA will ask you to select Continue to agree to the following:

• By clicking on the continue button below, I am attesting, under penalty of perjury, that all of the statements and information that I will provide are true to the best of my knowledge and that I am willing to cooperate with any efforts to verify the information provided. I understand that the information provided by me will be used to determine my child’s eligibility for Pandemic-EBT benefits.

Step Five: Confirm the type of application you wish to submit and select Next

The following information will be requested in the application:

• Your child’s NYS Student Identification System ID (NYSSIS ID) – This is a unique statewide identification number assigned to all students participating in the NYS PreK-12 school system. This number is not required but will assist OTDA with processing your child’s application.

• Your child’s first name, last name and date of birth;

• The primary parent or guardian’s first name and last name;

• The child’s current address; the previous address of the child if they moved during the 2021-22 school year;

• Additional school name if your child attended more than one school during the 2021-22 school year;

• Whether or not your child previously received a P-EBT benefit

• If you still have the card in your possession;

• If you received P-EBT food benefits on a P-EBT card, SNAP card or a Medicaid card;

• The Client Identification Number (CIN) of the card.

• The total number of days your child was absent or remote due to COVID-19 for each month. We will use this information to compare to the attendance that your child’s school submitted to NYSED. If there is a difference between the information reported by you and your child’s school, we will pay the benefits based on the information reported by the school. Please note: for this reason, NYS OTDA is unable to process applications for children who attended schools that did not submit attendance for the 2021-22 school year. Without an individual child’s attendance information submitted by the child’s school for 2021-22 school year, NYS OTDA will be unable to match the attendance information from the parent or guardian.

Is there a difference between a Pre-K P-EBT Application process and a K-12 Application process?

The same information will be collected for K-12 and Pre-K children except for the following:

• Pre-K children will have the option to submit documentation from their child’s school in order to receive a school year benefit.

• Pre-K children are eligible for a child under 6 benefit IF they were on an active SNAP case for any month from September 2021 through June 2022, and a summer benefit if they were active on a SNAP case in June, July or August 2022. These children will have received their benefit by May 1, 2023.

• With documentation from the child’s school, pre-k children who received the children under 6 benefit may be eligible for an additional school year benefit if they had absences that exceed 5 days in any given month.

• For Pre-K children who did not receive a benefit for children under 6, they may be eligible for a P-EBT food benefit for eligible absences during the 2021-22 school year. You must complete and upload the Pre-K form into your application.

To download the documentation for Pre-K children, please click here:

How much will I receive in the P-EBT Food Benefit Application?

• Payment tiers for school year benefits are as follows:

• Tier 1: $21 for children absent or remote for 1-5 school days in the month.

• Tier 2: $78 for children absent or remote for 6-15 school days in the month.

• Tier 3: $128 for children absent or remote 16 or more school days in the month.

• If your child did not already If your child did not already receive a benefit for 5 consecutive days of missed school, your child may be eligible for P-EBT food benefits for additional days they missed school per month due to COVID-19. Please see eligibility guidelines on our Frequently Asked Questions website, located at otda.ny.gov/PEBT-FAQs.

• If you are unsure if you should have received this benefit already, please call our Helpline at 1-833-452-0096.




• If your child did receive a benefit for the 2021-22 school year in Spring 2023, and you would like to attest to other days per month that your child was absent or remote due to COVID-19, NYS OTDA will pay the difference between the benefits that have already been issued for the 2021-22 school year (which are 5 consecutive days absent or remote per month) and the reported days per month by the parent or guardian. Your child’s school must have submitted attendance that validates what the parent or guardian reports in the application.

How will I receive P-EBT Food Benefits for my eligible child/children through the application?

• Eligible children currently receiving SNAP or Temporary Assistance (cash) will have their P-EBT food benefits issued to their household’s EBT card.

• Eligible children who successfully accessed their food benefits for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years on a P-EBT Food Benefit card will receive their food benefits for the 2021-22 school year on the same P-EBT Food Benefit card.

• All other eligible children will be mailed a P-EBT Food Benefit card with instructions explaining how to activate the card and access the food benefits.

  If the P-EBT Food Benefit card(s) you used to access your child’s P-EBT food benefits for the 2019-20 and/or 2020-21 school years have been lost, stolen or damaged, the information on our Frequently Asked Questions page, located at otda.ny.gov/PEBT-FAQs, can assist you in ordering a replacement card.

  IMPORTANT: Please be sure to hold on to your SNAP EBT card, or P-EBT Food Benefit card in the event that additional P-EBT food benefits are issued to your child in the future.

How will I know the status of my child’s PEBT Food Benefits after I have submitted an application?

• Once you have submitted an application online, you will receive an email with a confirmation code. Please visit https://pebtbenefits.ny.gov and log in to your NY.gov account to check the status of your child’s application.

• If you submit your application online, after your child’s application has been processed:

• NYS OTDA will update you by email when your application has been processed and if your child is eligible for a payment.

• NYS OTDA will also update you by email if your application has been processed and denied due to your child being ineligible for a benefit, ineligible to receive additional benefits, or for other reasons, such as your child not being included on the list of children submitted by your child’s school.

• For applications submitted through the PEBT Helpline for accessibility assistance, you will also receive a confirmation code. Please use this confirmation code to call the PEBT Helpline at 1-833-452-0096 in order to check the status of your application.

PEBT Contact Information:

• If you have questions, you may call the P-EBT food benefits Helpline: 1-833-452-0096 or visit otda.ny.gov/pebt-info to submit a question in writing.
  Please note: The P-EBT Information Form is not an application for PEBT food benefits.