More food help for school-age kids approved

The Virginia Department of Social Services will provide pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits to families of school-age children who no longer have access to free or reduced-price school meals due to public school closures.

Virginia is one of 20 states approved by the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Services to implement the P-EBT program, which provides temporary food assistance to cover the cost of meals missed while schools are closed.

Families are not required to be current SNAP participants to qualify for P-EBT benefits.

VDSS is working with the Virginia Department of Education to get the program up and operating, according to a press release.

Go to http://pebtva.com/ for more information about the P-EBT program and answers to frequently-asked questions, which will be updated regularly over the coming weeks.

To learn more about food assistance resources and other COVID-19-related programs, visit COVID.Virginia.gov.