NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has made it rain $1,000 debit cards on New Rochelle school children.
Many parents in New Rochelle (and elsewhere) took to social media to express surprise and confusion after unsolicited EBT Debit Cards for their children arrived in the mail Friday.
Even Mayor Noam Bramson, Schools Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond and State Assemblymember Amy Paulin were unaware of why there was a sudden influx of cash to New Rochelle’s public school students.
Some parents report their children were sent debit cards in their children’s name with as much as $1,070 stored on the card. Some sense a scam or an error or suspicious activity. Some want to throw the card away — and some did.
Do not do that!
The money is legitimate. Children are free to spend the money on food as they see fit.
For those who do not want the money they can cut up the card and in 274 days the money will be returned to the United States Department of Agriculture which will redistribute the money across the 50 United State and U.S. Territories.
Or consider buying groceries and donating them to a food pantry which helps the local economy and the clients supported by the local food pantries.
Throwing away the card with all that money only means people in Iowa or Idaho get it. Readers are encouraged to keep the money in New York to benefit themselves, local businesses and, if donated, local food pantries like Hope Community Kitchen, and their clients.
The money cones from a federal program administered by New York State under which eligible minor dependents who were taught in a fully remote or hybrid setting during the 2020-2021 school year are entitled to $132 per month if fully remote and $82 per month if hybrid.
Eligible students include those already registered with the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and — here comes the part causing confusion — all students regardless of household income who attended schools in 2021 that were deemed eligible under the Community Eligibility Provision. All students in a deemed eligible school District receive the program benefits. Benefits are not means tested. Every student at eligible schools or school districts receives the benefits regardless of family income.
The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance obtained lists of students who attended school districts (and private and charter schools) deemed eligible from the New York State Education Department.
The OTDA confirmed to Talk of the Sound that the City School District of New Rochelle was deemed eligible so every student who attended public schools in New Rochelle for any months in 2021 is eligible, hence the deluge of P-EBT Cards today.
The USDA provided the funds as part of federal pandemic relief as of June 2021.
Pandemic EBT food benefits on P-EBT Cards were distributed in bulk statewide in October and November to all households with eligible children who receive free school lunch under the National School Lunch Act. There were some delays in distribution to children at eligible schools and school districts like New Rochelle due to the scope and requirements of the federal program. The mailing that arrived Friday was the OTDA getting caught up with the New Rochelle households.
Redacted Copy of NYS OTDA Letter:
UPDATE: OTDA says card recipients cannot give away the card. They must use it to buy food. What they do with the food after that is up to them.
UPDATE: Some readers report that not knowing what it was they threw away the P-EBT Card.
You can order a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card by calling 1-888-328-6399. Please be prepared to provide security information, including the 19-digit card number that was printed on the front of the P-EBT Food Benefit card you are replacing.
If you do not have that number, you will be asked for the cardholder’s Social Security number; however, when ordering a replacement P-EBT Food Benefit card (and only when ordering a P-EBT Food Benefit card), you must enter 999-99 and then the 2-digit month and 2-digit day (MM/DD) of the cardholder’s birthday.
For example, if your child’s date of birth is July 4, you would enter 999-99-0704 when asked for the child’s Social Security number.
You will then be asked to verify the cardholder’s 8-digit birthday (MM/DD/YYYY) and to enter the 4-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) you selected for the P-EBT food benefit card that you are replacing. If you did not previously create a PIN, you will still be able to order a replacement card by following the prompts.
Please note that P-EBT food benefits will remain available and accessible on your P-EBT Food Benefit card for at least 274 days from the date they were issued. Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefit balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.
Read more here:
Important Update for P-EBT Food Benefits Covering the 2020-21 School
I cannot find more information when an additional payment will be made to our P-EBT cards for the 21-22 school year, as well as the 2021 summer months. Help!
This is great. What about kids in portchester? And other local towns??
From my reporting this out it appears NO ONE outside OTDA knew this was about to happen — as my article indicates.
That said, once they found it (because I sent them my article), I think the District and City could have done some sort of communication, certainly the BOE whose students they are.
OTDA could have prepared the public and obviously should have sent a “cover letter” with the EBT Cards.
That said, this is a windfall for New Rochelle
SMH….why wasn’t the school superintendent aware? Could have prevented confusion among families who received this card by sending out a mass communication. The manner in which this was handled is just confirmation that government agencies are lacking in leadership.