COUNTY ANNOUNCES SCHEDULED STATE OUTAGE FOR ELECTRONIC BENEFITS TRANSFER (EBT)

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Cardholders are advised to prepare for shopping needs and get cash prior to outage

SCC 

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF.— The state of California plans to transition to a new Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Vendor on June 30, 2018. Because of this transition, a statewide 24-hour EBT outage is scheduled from Saturday, June 23, 2018 beginning at 11 p.m., until Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 11:00 p.m. During this outage, cardholders will not be able to access their EBT food or cash benefits.

Approximately 240,000 individuals and families in Santa Clara County engage in a variety of public assistance programs, whether it be for food, cash aid, Medi-Cal or employment services.

This scheduled, one-time outage of the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) is required to support the transition of EBT vendor services from Conduent (formerly Xerox) to Fidelity Information Services (FIS). Notices have been issued to retailers and public assistance benefits recipients, with additional information posted throughout related County offices.

Eligible recipients of public assistance benefits have access to a wide range of support while participating in County programs designed to build self-sufficiency, provide food, help with limited cash assistance, and offer medical services for vulnerable Santa Clara County residents.

EBT card users are urged to prepare for shopping needs and to get cash.  Eligible recipients of authorized public assistance benefits for cash or qualified food purchases WILL NOT be able to use their authorized Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards from 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, 2018, until 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, 2018.  Both the client website at www.ebt.ca.gov and the EBT Customer Service Help Line (1-877-328-9677) will be down during this planned outage.

“Plan Ahead” is the message given to eligible recipients of authorized public assistance benefits for cash aid or qualified food purchases.

“We urge Electronic Benefit Transfer card users to prepare for shopping needs and get cash before this scheduled outage,” said Robert Menicocci, Director of the County of Santa Clara Social Services Agency.  “We also need to warn them that the EBT Customer Services telephone number WILL NOT be available from 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, 2018, until 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, 2018.  During this period they will not be able to speak to EBT Customer Service.”

Card users WILL NOT be able to use the EBT client website at www.ebt.ca.gov from 10:00 p.m. on Friday, June 22, 2018, until 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, 2018.  During this period, they will not be able to log in to the EBT web site.

EBT card users are urged to prepare for shopping needs and to get cash.  In addition, the EBT Customer Services telephone number and the EBT client website atwww.ebt.ca.gov will be down from 10:00 p.m. Friday, June 22, 2018 until 11:00 p.m.

“We would also like to remind recipients to keep Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card number and personal Identification Number (PIN) a secret,” added Denise Boland, Director of the Department of Employment and Benefit Services for the County of Santa Clara Social Services Agency.  “This information is like their social security number and should never be given to anyone. Lost benefits cannot be replaced.”

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