Summer EBT: Food Benefits for Eligible Children During the Summer Months

If you have questions about your application, you can email the Summer EBT team at dhssebtsupport@wi.gov or call 833-431-2224.

If your application is approved, you will be sent a letter telling you about the benefits. If your application is denied, you will get an email that will tell you why it was denied and what you can do if you want to appeal the decision. If there are any issues with your application, or if we need more information to complete our review, we will reach out to you directly through the email or phone number you gave when you applied. If we reach out and we do not hear from you within 10 days, your application will be closed.

If you did not already have a QUEST or Pandemic EBT card for us to load benefits onto, you will be sent a new card in the mail. Please allow up to 10 business days for the card to be delivered after we issue the benefits.

We will email you when a decision has been made about your child’s benefits, or if we need more information from you. Also, if your application was approved, we will send you a letter. This letter will tell you that your child was approved. If you have more than one child, the letter will list who is approved to get benefits, and the total benefit amount you will be sent.

We will send you your child’s benefits during our next planned issuance of benefits. If you have not gotten your child’s benefits within three weeks of when their application was approved, please email our Summer EBT Support Team at dhssebtsupport@wi.gov or call 833-431-2224.

Children qualified for Summer EBT if their application to get free or reduced price meals at their National School Lunch Program (NSLP) school during the 2023-2024 school year was approved.

A child could also have qualified if they were part of a household that participated in one of the following programs during some or all the 2023-2024 school year:

• FoodShare
• Wisconsin Works (W-2)
• The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
• An income-based Medicaid program (See Medicaid in Wisconsin: A-Z, P-02383)

If a child did not go to an NSLP school, but were in one of the programs listed above, they must have been born on or between July 1, 2005, and August 29, 2018, to qualify.

The table below shows the income limits (effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025) for Summer EBT. They are the same ones used for the NSLP. Your household’s total income must be the same or less than the amount shown for your household size. Note: These income limits will change on July 1, 2025.

Children who qualify because their application for free or reduced price meals was approved by their NSLP school can be any age.

If your child did not go to an NSLP school but your household participated in one of the qualifying programs for some or all of the 2023-2024 school year, they must have been born on or between July 1, 2005, and August 29, 2018, in order to get Summer EBT.

Your Summer EBT benefits can be used wherever FoodShare benefits are accepted. This includes most grocery stores, many convenience stores, some farmers markets, and certain online retailers. You can use the benefits to buy food items, including:

• Bread and cereals
• Fruits and vegetables
• Meat, fish, and poultry
• Dairy products
• Snack foods

See a detailed list of items you can and cannot buy with your benefits.

Once the $120 in benefits is added to your EBT card, you have 122 days (about 4 months) to use them. Any benefits that you have not used after that time will be removed from your card. You will get reminders in the mail before we remove any benefits from your card.

Please remember that you cannot give your EBT card to someone else. It is illegal to sell, trade, or give your Summer EBT benefits to another person.

Your Summer EBT benefits will be put onto an EBT card that works like a debit card. If you already have a QUEST card or a P-EBT card from the COVID-19 pandemic, we will put your Summer EBT benefits on that card, if your child is eligible. If you do not already have an EBT card, we will mail you a new QUEST card.

To check the balance on your card, go to the ebtEDGE website or use the ebtEDGE mobile app. If you lose your card, call QUEST Card Service at 877-415-5164.

Once the $120 in benefits is added to your EBT card, you have 122 days (about 4 months) to use them. Any benefits that you have not used after that time will be removed from your card. You will get reminders in the mail before we remove any benefits from your card.

Please remember that you cannot give your EBT card to someone else. It is illegal to sell, trade, or give your Summer EBT benefits to another person.

Summer EBT benefits are issued once a summer to families of eligible children. If you already got benefits, then you will not be sent any more this year.

Yes. If your child gets Summer EBT benefits, they can still participate in other summer meal programs. Two programs like this are the Summer Food Service Program and the Seamless Summer Option. To learn more about meal sites near you, visit wisummerfood.org or call 211. You can also text ‘food’ to 304-304.

You have the right to request a fair hearing. A fair hearing allows you to tell why you think there has been a wrong decision about your application or benefits. At the hearing, a hearing officer will hear from you and the agency. They will then determine if the decision was right or wrong. You may bring a friend or family member with you to the hearing.

To request a fair hearing, you will need to send either a fair hearing request form or a letter asking for a hearing to the Division of Hearings & Appeals, PO Box 7875, Madison, WI 53707. You can also fax it to 608-264-9885.

You may be able to get free legal help for the hearing. To learn more about legal help, call 888-278-0633.

The deadline to request a fair hearing this year for Summer EBT is November 30, 2024.