2023-2024 Free and Reduced Benefit Information

The Free & Reduced Price Meal Benefits Program is a part of the National Child Nutrition Program. This program makes Free or Reduced priced meals available to qualifying households. Qualifications are based on the gross income of all household members and the number of persons living in the house.
· Households must submit a new Free & Reduced application each school year.
· If your household received an Eligibility Notification – Free Meal Benefits letter from the school district, you do not need to complete a meal application unless your financial situation has changed.
· Applications may take up to 10 days to process and households are responsible for meal payment until the application is approved.
· Returning students maintain last year’s status for the first 30-days of the new school year.
· Households may apply for free or reduced price meals at any time during the school year. If you are not eligible now but have a later change, such as a decrease in household income, an increase in household size, become unemployed, or receive SNAP, TANF, or FDPIR benefits, complete an application at that time.
· You will be notified if your application is approved or denied. If you need help with this application, please contact Nutrition Services at (541) 923-8238.
· If you do not agree with the decision about your meal application, you may request a fair hearing by calling or writing: Tony Pupo, Support Services Director, (541) 923-5437, 145 SE Salmon, Redmond, OR 97756.
· The school may verify information on the application at any time during the school year.
· If your household qualifies for Free or Reduced Meal Benefits, your students may also qualify for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP). Please contact OHP at 1-800-359-9517 for more information.
· If your household qualifies for Free or Reduced meals, you may also receive discounted fees for athletics, standardized testing fees and ASB stickers. Qualifying for benefits may also aid in scholarship and grant applications for high school students. Your household may also qualify for free or no-cost internet services.

 

Household income guidelines for those wanting to check prior to completing an application can be found HERE for School Year 2023-24. All benefit determinations (Federally FREE, Federally REDUCED, & Oregon EIG) result in students’ access to school meals at no-cost.

You may now complete and submit your application online here.

 Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) for the Summer of 2023

P-EBT is part of the U.S. government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and was established by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). P-EBT provides benefits – very similar to SNAP food benefits – to children that would have received free or reduced-price school meals if the school had not experienced closures or reductions in hours or attendance due to COVID-19. P-EBT benefits are available to all eligible children for the summer months regardless of the school’s operating model.

We are excited to announce that the P-EBT (Pandemic-EBT) for Summer 2023 Program will be live on Aug. 31, 2023! ODE & DHS will be approving benefits for more than 300,000 eligible students state-wide. Starting early Sept. 2023, eligible children will receive a letter in the mail, and a one-time payment amount of $120 will be added to their existing P-EBT Summer 2022 card. Newly eligible students can expect to receive a P-EBT card mailed to their home.

 2023 Go-Live Flyer (English/Spanish)

 2023 FAQ for Families (English/Spanish) 

The primary source of information about P-EBT is the Oregon Pandemic EBT website, which will be updated with detail about the next issuance as they are finalized. Oregon families may also get more information about P-EBT by reaching out to the DHS office who’ve assisted them with their SNAP benefits.