How to Prove Participation

If a consumer participates in one of the following government programs, their household qualifies for the EBB Program:

• Lifeline, having qualified through participation in one of the following programs:
  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • Medicaid
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA)
  • Veterans Pension or Survivors Pension
• Federal Pell Grant in the current award year
• Free and Reduced Price School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program in the 2019-20 or 2020-21 school year, including at US Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Provision schools
• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) General Assistance
• Tribally-Administered Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard)
• Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations

To prove participation in one of the above programs, consumers must submit a document that, at a minimum, includes:

• The consumer’s name, or the name of their benefit qualifying person (BQP);
• The name of the qualifying program, such as SNAP;
• The government, Tribal entity, program administrator, school, school district, university, or college that issued the document; and
• An issue date within the last 12 months or a future expiration date that aligns with the benefit period, with the following exceptions:
  • For the Free and Reduced Price School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program, documents can be from either the 2019-2020 or the 2020-2021 school years, and
  • For Federal Pell Grants, documents should be from the current award year and can include screenshots of a National Student Loan Data System or FAFSA dashboard, or a copy of the email sent by the Department of Education about the EBB Program.

Learn more about how to submit these documents, or, if you are a consumer, visit USAC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit consumer website (this site will launch later this spring).