$350 Benefit Headed to Some Louisiana K-12 School Kids Next Week
With all of the stimulus money flying around over the last 18 months, it can be hard to keep track. There have been multiple rounds of federal stimulus checks and now multiple early payments of the child tax credit rolling out for U.S. parents - perhaps you've missed the recent news about the cash Louisiana is preparing to dish out to some families across the state.
If you have a child attending school in Louisiana in grades K-12, and you received a "Louisiana Purchase" card in the mail over the summer - don't throw it out. It's part of the P-EBT program to help families with school-age kids through the pandemic. You may qualify for a one time payment of $375 - per child! The money is meant to help offset the extra food costs parents may have (definitely did) had to pay as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have a middle school son, and even though we didn't apply for anything - we received a card a little over a month ago and were very confused. My wife called to find out more, and she was told that it had to be a mistake - but that may not be the case.
According to KLFY, recent funding changes at the federal level mean that a lot of families will be getting this much needed cash as soon as August the 4th. Some of the changes have exponentially widened the eligibility for the extra support as well. The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) say that all students, whether they attended class virtually, in person, or a mixture of the 2 could still qualify. Previously, only students who were unable to attend class (and therefore unable to take advantage of a free lunch program) were issued issued cash payments via a debit card.
To find out if you qualify, you can find out that and so much more about the DCFS's P-EBT program, click here.