Food assistance benefits for young children extended through summer in NC

North Carolina will continue to issue food assistance benefits for the state's youngest children through this summer.

The state has been granted an extension for the federal Child Care Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer program. 

Beginning next week, extra monthly P-EBT benefits tied to the COVID-19 pandemic will be issued to eligible children under the age of five and will continue monthly through August. Those benefits were set to expire at the end of May.

According to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, this will impact nearly 220,000 children who were eligible for benefits during the 2021-2022 school year. 

There is no action required by eligible families, as the benefits will be automatically renewed.

NCDHHS Chief Deputy Secretary Susan Gale Perry released a statement saying that the extra benefits “will help families increase their food budgets and protect the health and well-being of young children.”

North Carolina was among the first states to launch P-EBT for children early in the pandemic.