EBT stands for Electronic Benefit Transfer. It is a plastic card used like a pre-paid debit card.
ALL state benefits can be deposited on an EBT card including food stamps (SNAP) and welfare (TANF). As Mels said, if child support is collected through the state, then the client has the option to receive the money on an EBT card. Foster parents will also get payments through an EBT card. Sometimes this helps them keep track of how much money is being spent per child.
Mels, sometimes you'll see a high dollar amount on a card because it has taken the state a lot of time to determine benefits or to collect back support amounts. If the state finally determines that the client qualifies for the benefits, then the claim is paid from the date of filing.
When transacting an EBT card in a store that sells non-food items, the user has the option to select "food or cash". Let me explain. If SNAP money is deposited on the account then it can only be used for food. If TANF money is deposited on the account, than it can be used for anything - including getting cash back - or shoes. Hey, kids need shoes, right? However, the database knows if you're trying to use SNAP money for a non-food item and the transaction won't go through.
Can someone buy a grocery item at a cigarette store with an EBT and buy cigarettes, too? Not if the only money on the card is SNAP money. If there is non-food money on the card, then the client can get cash back with their purchase and buy cigarettes, too - or even alcohol. There is nothing illegal about this. The assumption is that the person receiving TANF, child support or foster care money is contributing to their own support or their child's support in addition to the money they receive (TANF is NOT a lot of money; in Idaho the max PER FAMILY was $309 per month) so they probably spent their own money on a TANF qualified expense and are just reimbursing themselves by taking out cash. When we had custody of DD but hadn't adopted yet, she received child-only TANF money in lieu of child support from her biological parents. I would use her EBT card everywhere but sometimes I'd take money out to pay for an activity that didn't accept EBT cards like her gymnastics lessons which were considered therapy for her developmental delay.
Back to Starbucks ...
"Food" under the SNAP program (nationwide) is anything that ISN'T prepared and served hot. You can't go to McDonalds and get a hamburger and fries with SNAP money. What you buy has to be something intended to be prepared at home, consumed later or shared with other people. You can't buy a single-serving bottle of iced tea or soda, or a 12-ounce cup of lemonade or single cookie from the deli case. However, a one-liter bottle of soda is acceptable because it is considered two servings - as are the "mega-gulp" cups from 7-11 (It all makes sense now, doesn't it?) Apparently the Safeway Starbucks in Idaho gets around this requirement of "not serving hot prepared food" because the drinks are iced. The drink size should restrict this kind of purchase but for some reason the drink size isn't specified in the system and so they get away with it. Either that or they are using non-food money on their EBT.
Do I care? Not really. A $5 cup of iced coffee doesn't even hit the radar compared to the other types of fraud that are out there. I'm not about to deny a single mom who has spent all day searching for a job a little "break" by getting herself a frappacino before she picks up the kids at daycare.
