(DCCA-NAP) — The Public School System Child Nutrition Program and the Department of Community & Cultural Affairs-Nutrition Assistance Program have diligently been working to validate school submitted information to prepare for the distribution of P-EBT benefits to thousands of school-aged children who were enrolled during school year 2021-2022. Approximately 10,895 children have been validated for P-EBT benefits in both public and private schools.
P-EBT is a federal program that provides food stamp benefits to school-aged children who lost access to school meals because their school was closed or operating with reduced hours for at least five consecutive days due to Covid-19 in a school year.
Each eligible child will receive a value of $8.28 per day of food stamp benefits in lieu of reimbursement of school meals.
Children under the age of 6 are defined as NAP-enrolled children in child care. Information and data for the children in child care are still being processed so those children will not be included in the first round of Phase I. The distribution of P-EBT benefits for children in child care will tentatively be distributed in January 2023.
The P-EBT for SY 2021-2022 is split in two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 1 is based on school- wide closures and in-person attendance. During the last school year, Covid-19 cases were sporadic which may have affected one school but not other schools, thus do not require systematic state-wide shutdown. For this instance, the number of closure days and in-person attendance will vary from school to school, both public and private. Parents and/or guardians will not be required to submit an application for P-EBT for their children for Phase 1.
All school-aged children in public and private schools are eligible for P-EBT if their school was closed or operating with reduced hours for at least 5 consecutive days during SY 2021-2022.
Phase 2 will be based on individualized cases, or per student case. During last school year, a student may have been required to isolate at home or at a designated quarantine facility which only affected such student but did not affect the entire classroom or school. A state-wide system to record an absence as Covid-19-related absence is not available. Schools recorded absences as excused or not- excused but not all schools recorded those absences as covid-related absences. In these circumstances, there is no feasible data for P-EBT purposes to include these individualized covid- related absences in Phase 1.
The prudent process planned for Phase 2, is to require Parents and/or guardians to submit an attestation for their children’s covid-related absences that were not covered in Phase 1. An attestation form, similar to an application form, will be made available to parents to fill out and the form certified by their child’s school (of enrollment) during SY 2021-2022. The completed form, after it has been certified by the school, must be submitted to the PSS Child Nutrition Program or CNP office on Capital Hill, Building No. 1251.
There will be a deadline for Attestation Forms to be submitted to CNP. The deadline is January 17, 2023. All forms will be processed by CNP for data compilation which will then be submitted to NAP for the processing of P-EBT distribution. The distribution for Phase 2 is tentatively set for March 11, 2023.
The P-EBT distribution on Saipan will be issued based on the “last name” of the primary contact who was listed as the parent or legal guardian from their child’s school record.
Benefits will be issued according to the first letter of the primary contact’s last name based on the following schedule:
Benefits will be issued from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily during the scheduled dates of P-EBT distribution. “Open Day” is the designated date for households who weren’t able to pick up their benefits based on their scheduled date. Households are advised to follow the schedule accordingly.
Identification will be required. Households will be required to provide a government-issued photo identification such as a driver’s license, passport, municipal ID, U.S. permanent resident card, etc. The identity of the parent or legal guardian will be verified against the list of eligible households.
P-EBT benefits will be issued via a drive-thru at the NAP office grounds located on As Lito. To ensure a smooth process, households will be required to follow the traffic flow of the drive-thru procedure.
A separate distribution schedule for Tinian and Rota will be facilitated by the DCCA offices on Tinian and Rota. Approximately 490 children on Tinian and 471 children on Rota will be receiving P-EBT benefits.
For inquiries regarding the P-EBT program. please call the P-EBT Call Center at (670) 287-3063 to 3065 or the CNP office at (670) 664-3901 or 3902.
