Last week, the Department of Human Services (DHS) began to send out notices to Minnesota households with public school students whose application for Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits have been denied. Households with private school students that applied for P-EBT are receiving approval or denial notices this week.
There is an extremely limited window of time for families whose P-EBT application was denied to appeal that decision. Any family that provided an email address on their original application have been notified via email and have until this coming Monday, September 14, 2020, to submit their appeal. Those families (both with public or private school children) who were denied and that did not provide an email address in their P-EBT application will be notified by mail and have until next Friday, September 18, 2020, to make their appeal.
Appeals must be filed by using the online P-EBT Help Form at https://edocs.mn.gov/forms/DHS-7330-ENG. The appeal must include supporting documentation that verifies P-EBT eligibility, but that documentation “may vary depending on the circumstances” of each family. Supporting documents must be relative to the 2019-2020 academic year and “specifically reference each child” for whom the household is appealing. Examples of supporting documents to verify P-EBT eligibility could include:
- The free and reduced-price meal program enrollment letter with each child’s name
- A letter from your school administrator confirming each child’s enrollment in free or reduced-price meals
- Report card or other enrollment documents with each child’s name for those attending a community eligibility school
The final decisions on P-EBT appeals will be made by Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
