First Benefits in Expanded Program to be Delivered Starting Tuesday for 105,000 Children

June 14, 2021

 (TRENTON) –  Human Services Acting Commissioner Sarah Adelman today announced extra food assistance benefits will be sent starting Tuesday to New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households with children under 6 years of age.

In total, about $116 million will be delivered to about 105,000 children to enhance nutritional support. Households may receive multiple payments, depending on their circumstances. Beginning Tuesday, a benefit of $122.76 per child, per month, will be available on the Families First EBT card of households who received SNAP in October. Payments will continue to be added for each eligible month in the following days. By June 25, an additional benefit of $122.76 per child, per month, will have been issued to the household’s EBT card for every additional month through May that the household was receiving SNAP.

The benefit for June will be posted to Families First accounts at the end of July. Households enrolled in SNAP for the entire time period will receive, in total, nearly $1,000 in extra food assistance.

“We’re committed to providing as much additional food security as we can to eligible children,” Acting Commissioner Adelman said. “These additional food security benefits are critical for so many children who lost nutritional support during these challenging times. We’re pleased to help provide this support, and will continue to look for all opportunities to provide food assistance to families and children.” 

“We have been focused on providing as much food assistance to New Jerseyans in efforts to address food insecurity concerns, particularly in young children,” Deputy Commissioner Elisa Neira said. “Ensuring children have nutritional support is a priority, especially considering the difficulties faced by many children during the pandemic. These additional benefits will help support healthy families and children.” 

The benefits for children under 6 are in addition to the household’s typical monthly SNAP payment, and are part of the federal Pandemic-Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program, which expanded these benefits to non-school age children.

As part of P-EBT, Human Services is working with school districts to collect information and later this summer will issue extra food assistance for eligible school-age children and families.

Visit here for more information on the P-EBT program.

So far, Human Services has issued about $310 million in P-EBT benefits to about 600,000 children. Recipients can check their Families First account balance by visiting www.NJFamiliesFirst.com or by calling the New Jersey EBT Customer Service help line at 1-800-997-3333. 

Anyone who previously received SNAP but no longer has their Families First card should contact their local county board of social services to request a replacement card.