THE Nutrition Assistance Program office will not be accepting Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer, or P-EBT, applications from June 1 to 7, 2021, due to the NAP drive-thru benefit distribution.
P-EBT applications will have to be submitted to the Public School System Child Nutrition Program, or PSS-CNP, on Capital Hill, Building 1251.
NAP staff will be dedicating their time to the distribution of NAP benefits that will be issued to approximately 4,300 households on Saipan.
It will resume accepting P-EBT applications on June 8 to 11, 2021.
On Tinian and Rota, NAP benefits will be distributed on June 1 to 3, 2021 to approximately 200 households, respectively on each island.
During this period, P-EBT households are requested to submit their applications to the PSS-CNP offices located at either the Tinian Jr./Sr. High School or Dr. Rita H. Inos Jr./Sr. High School.
The last day to submit a completed P-EBT application will be on June 11, 2021, no later than 4:30 p.m. at the PSS-CNP office or no later than 5 p.m. at the NAP office.
NAP Administrator Walter Macaranas asked for the public’s understanding. Due to the temporary closure, individuals must submit P-EBT applications at the Saipan NAP office and designated offices on Tinian and Rota during the regular distribution schedule.
The P-EBT program provides food benefits to school-age children who lost access to school meals because their school was closed or operating with reduced in-person attendance due to Covid-19.
It is funded by the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 or U.S. Public Law 116-159.
All school-age children on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota — from pre-school to 12th grade — are eligible for P-EBT benefits.
A child must be enrolled in school to be considered for P-EBT benefits.
The P-EBT program is separate from the grab-and-go meals program — a school-age child may continue to receive both.
Young children under the age of 6 and children in childcare centers may be eligible for P-EBT benefits if they are members of households that received Nutrition Assistance Program or NAP benefits anytime from Oct. 1, 2020 up to June 11, 2021.
P-EBT benefits are in the form of NAP coupons that will be distributed to eligible households and will be used in the same manner as NAP coupons — they can only be redeemed for food and eligible items at NAP-authorized retailers and vendors.
Households must register for the P-EBT program by submitting a paper P-EBT application.
Applications will be disseminated to children in schools to bring home, and to parents for children in childcare centers.
Schools and childcare centers will distribute P-EBT applications, but will not accept them.
The P-EBT benefit amount a school-age child can receive will be based on the child’s school-learning model, or the school’s predominant school schedule.
Essentially, a school meal is missed for each school day a child was not in school but was instead learning from home.
As for public schools and Head Start centers, all children will receive the same amount of P-EBT benefits.
Children in Early Head Start are considered to be in the young children cluster, which means that they must be a member of a household receiving NAP benefits anytime since Oct. 1, 2020 to be considered for P-EBT benefits.
P-EBT benefits will be retroactive to the start of school year 2020-21 when schools started in August or September 2020.
A PSS school-age child could receive between $800 and $900 in P-EBT benefits for the entire school year.
School-age children in private schools may receive less because their school schedule incorporated more in-person learning.
The first round of P-EBT benefits will cover the months of August 2020 to November 2020.
The benefits that will be issued in July 2021 will cover the months of December 2020 to March 2021 while the benefits issued in August 2021 will be for the months of April 2021 to June 2021, Macaranas said.
For more information about the P-EBT program, visit the PSS and NAP websites at cnmipss.org or cnminap.gov.mp or call the P-EBT contact center at 287-3603 to 287-3605.
