USDA Approves Third Round of Food Benefits

Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a third round of federal Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) food benefits. This will assist families with children who have temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to COVID-19.

In this third round of pandemic food benefits, HHSC received federal approval to provide more than $1.4 billion in benefits to approximately 3.7 million eligible children in Texas. To date, HHSC has distributed approximately than $4.7 billion in P-EBT food benefits to Texas families.

Summer P-EBT, covering June through August, provides a one-time benefit of $375 per eligible child and can be used in the same way as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits to pay for groceries. The administration of summer P-EBT is a joint effort by HHSC, the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas Education Agency.

“Thank you to HHSC and USDA for working together to ensure Texas families can continue to put food on the table,” said Gov. Greg Abbott. “This third round of pandemic food benefits will help us continue to provide access to nutritious food for both families and their children.”