TULSA, Okla. − The Oklahoma Department of Human Services has stopped payments on all Oklahoma P-EBT cards sent to families after the Oklahoma Department of Education says unauthorized cards were sent to a small number of families.Â
P-EBT, which is federally funded, is supposed to benefit children who receive free or reduced meals in schools. P-EBT, or Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer, was created to help children who would have received free or reduced lunch if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
A member of the FOX23 News Team, whose youngest child attends a public school in Green Country, received one of the cards sent in error.Â
None of her children have ever qualified for free or reduced lunch. The card did not have money loaded on it.
It is believed that the recent distribution of cards were sent to a subset of families for "corrected issues" for the 2021-2022 school year.Â
Justin Holcomb is a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Education. He sent FOX23 this statement that reads in part, "we are closely monitoring the P-EBT inconsistencies that originated last Friday. While our initial investigation appears to have the unauthorized cards limited to a small number of families, we will be able to provide a more thorough response by the end of this week. “Â
This is a developing story.Â
