P-EBT and a Checklist of 3: What families need to know!

AOF Highlights January 14, 2022

Pandemic EBT Benefits Approved for This School Year

The Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) program for school-aged children offers food benefits for children in preschool through 12th grade who typically receive free or reduced-price school meals who are absent from school due to COVID-19. Ohio’s P-EBT plan for the 2021-2022 school year was approved last fall, meaning if your student is learning on a remote or hybrid schedule, is in quarantine due to COVID-19 infection or exposure or missed school days because of COVID-19 related building closures, your student is eligible for P-EBT benefits. P-EBT benefits will be issued by the end of the month following the month your student missed in-person school days. Non-students under age 6 are not currently eligible for P-EBT.

For more information on P-EBT for this school year, visit OhioPEBT.org and share this flyer to help spread the word!

AOF Releases Winter Checklist for Families

This year will be a year of big changes to public benefits for many families after we see increased benefits and flexibilities across public programs like Medicaid and SNAP begin to unwind as the coronavirus pandemic (hopefully) eases up. To help families prepare for the end of these temporary COVID-19 flexibilities and enhanced benefits, AOF is releasing our winter checklist for families to ensure they continue to receive the benefits and tax credits they’re eligible for. We’re encouraging families to:

File their 2021 taxes: Even if they aren’t required or don’t normally file taxes, families will want to file this spring to claim the rest of the expanded Child Tax Credit.
Update their household information: Reporting life changes like a move, a job change, change in income or expenses, a new child, and more will ensure families’ Medicaid and SNAP information is current when the state begins re-examining eligibility.
Keep their child’s school informed: Schools need up-to-date information so children can receive free and reduced-price school meals and P-EBT funds. Be sure to report COVID-19 related absences and file an updated National School Meals Program application.

Find our full winter checklist HERE and help us share with Ohio families!

Insurance Reimbursement for At-Home COVID Tests

Starting tomorrow, January 15th, COVID-19 at-home test kits can be purchased for free with insurance point-of-sale coverage or through insurance reimbursement. Health plans will be required to cover 8 free at-home tests per covered individual per month, of up to $12 per test. Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program plans are already required to fully cover the cost of at-home tests, but Medicare does not. Learn more about the free at-home COVID test kit program HERE and be sure to contact your insurance plan with questions about point-of-sale coverage at certain pharmacies or retailers.

Child Tax Credit Payments End

The American Rescue Plan’s temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit ended in December, meaning that January 15th will be the first time since July 2021 that eligible families will not receive a monthly CTC payment. The Build Back Better Act at the federal level would extend the expanded CTC for an additional year, but the bill is stalled in the U.S. Senate. The end of these CTC payments comes at a vulnerable time for families, when Ohio’s COVID case rates have been the highest they’ve ever been, with more than 20,000 new cases almost every day since December 29, 2021.

We need your help to make sure the public, the media and elected leaders in Ohio and Washington understand the impact of the Child Tax Credit on children and families. If you received CTC payments in 2021, we invite you to share what the monthly payments meant for your family.

Share your story HERE.

Redistricting Maps Struck Down

On Wednesday this week, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the Ohio House and Senate redistricting maps, ruling in a 4-3 decision that the maps must be re-drawn within the next 10 days. Candidate filing deadlines for 2022 elections are coming up on February 2nd. The court’s decision stated that the Ohio Redistricting Commission did not attempt to meet the standards set forth in the Ohio Constitution, including that the districts should not favor either political party and should use election results to determine statewide preferences for Ohio voters. We’ll keep you updated over the next 10 days!

Child Care Study Committee Meeting

On Wednesday, the Study Committee on Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care and Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) Program met at the Ohio Statehouse. The committee heard from experts from the Ohio Departments of Education (ODE) and Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) about the SUTQ program’s purpose and quality research, star-rating requirements, burdens and costs, training and supports for providers as well as ODE/ODJFS’s ongoing efforts to streamline SUTQ.

The committee will meet February 9th at the Statehouse to hear from stakeholders about quality and accessibility of publicly funded child care as well as ways to address the workforce crisis. They also plan to produce an interim report detailing what they’ve learned and discussed in their first two meetings.

So far, these committee hearings have not been recorded or available for live streaming.

Upcoming Events

UHCAN-Ohio Documentary Showing: Power To Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution Saturday, January 15, 10:00am. Register HERE.

National Day of Racial Healing at Ohio State University Tuesday, January 18. Register for OSU Programs HERE and for National Programs HERE.

UNC Center for Civil Rights Panel on Critical Race Theory Wednesday, January 19, 12:00pm. Register HERE.

Health Equity Summit: Righting the Wrongs: Tackling Health Inequities January 19th & 20th. Register for free HERE.

Health Policy Institute of Ohio Webinar: Criminal justice and health: Keeping families together through criminal justice reform Thursday, January 20, 11:00am. Register HERE.

Ohio Legislative Children’s Caucus Webinar: Access to Affordable, High-Quality Child Care is An Economic Issue Monday, January 24, 2:00pm. Register HERE.

Ohio Workforce Coalition Webinar: Happy Birthday, OWC! (And Workforce Updates) Thursday, January 27 at 1:00pm. Register HERE.

Kirwan Institute Bi-Weekly Forum: No Struggle, No Progress: Social Justice Organizing in the 21st Century Thursday, February 3, 11:00am. Register HERE.

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