Registration for 2023 Summer PEBT benefits starts July 24, 2023

DHSS Director Muavaefa’atasi John E. Suisala is pleased to announce that parents of children who were enrolled in ECE (K4-K5) through grade 12 in all public and private schools during School Year (SY) 2022-2023 that ended in June 2023, may register for 2023 Summer PEBT benefits starting Monday, July 24, 2023.

The last day to register for these benefits is Friday, September 15, 2023. Unfortunately, at the time of this press release our office does not have complete DOE-verified enrollment information for any of the private schools on Tutuila.

As a result, parents/ legal guardians with children who attended a private elementary or high school for SY 2022-2023 cannot currently register for the 2023 Summer P-EBT.

Once we get their complete enrollment information, we will inform these affected parents/ legal guardians immediately so they may register their children.

As with our previous P-EBT Programs, DHSS and the Department of Education (DOE) will issue P-EBT benefits through the American Samoa Nutrition Assistance Program (ASNAP) in the form of food stamp coupons.

The 2023 Summer P-EBT Program is funded through a $2 million Food and Nutrition Service grant under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA approved American Samoa’s P-EBT Summer State Plan for SY 2022-2023 on June 26, 2023.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 has changed the 2023 PEBT Summer benefits from the benefit levels for the 2022 Summer P-EBT Program to $120 per child for the contiguous U.S.; $188 per child for Alaska, and $139 per child for Hawaii and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, CNMI, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

Like the 2022 Summer P-EBT Program, we again require all parents and legal guardians to register their children for the 2023 Summer P-EBT Program using our online registration public portal. This is a full-service public Page 2 of 4 Press Release: DHSS portal where parents and legal guardians set up their accounts, register their children and upload documents that may be required.

It is important to note that for the public portal to immediately approve your online registration the full names of the parents/ legal guardians and those of their children that are entered into the public portal must match what appears on the school enrollment records provided by DOE.

If any of the names do not match those provided by DOE in the official school enrollment records, the parent will be asked to call the ASNAP Office for more information.

The online registration public portal allows parents to go back to edit any information or upload a required document and then resubmit for their registration processing once it is approved.

As with recent P-EBT Programs, parents/ legal guardians will not be required to register at the office.

They will only be asked to come to the ASNAP office to take a P-EBT photo ID and/or to pick up benefits. Parents/ legal guardians who still have their P-EBT ID cards from 2021 or 2022 do not need another P-EBT ID to pick up and redeem benefits for their children. Please follow these steps to register for 2023 Summer P-EBT using the public portal:

• 1. Go to www.asnap.as

• 2. If you were part of the first or second P-EBT system, we can jump-start your registration using the information we already have. Click the “Look Me Up” button to provide the information needed to check your account.

• 3. If you are new to P-EBT and we do not have an email on file for you, click on the “Register” button to create a new ASNAP profile.

• 4. If you have already submitted a registration form for this year and want to view its status, edit information, or upload documents, click the “Login” button and continue your P-EBT registration.

Parents and legal guardians who do not have access to the Internet may call the ASNAP Office at 633-7720 to get help over the telephone with your registration.

P-EBT benefits will be ready for distribution starting August 15, 2023.

Director Muavaefa’atasi extends his gratitude and appreciation to USDA FNS Administrator Cynthia Long, FNS Western Regional Administrator Jesus Mendoza, and USDA’s national and regional teams for their continued support of American Samoa’s nutrition needs; Governor Lemanu P.S. Mauga and Lieutenant Governor Talauega E. V. Ale for their strong leadership and support of the work we do; and to DOE Director Talauega Dr. Samasoni Asaeli and his team for their ongoing collaboration and support in the implementation of this last round of P-EBT benefits for American Samoa’s school children.