The first phase of SUN Bucks benefits will be issued this week to approximately 300,000 children, ages 5-18, who received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the 2023-2024 school year. A one-time payment of $120 per eligible child will be loaded onto their household’s SNAP EBT card by Friday. (The CAFE portal may not display SUN Bucks benefit category until early next week.) SUN Bucks must be used within 122 days of the issuance date, or the benefits will expire and cannot be added back to the card.
“It takes time to stand up a new program like SUN Bucks, and I’m incredibly proud of our team for meeting the challenge. To issue the first round of benefits in just 45 days after sending our notice of intent to participate in this program is an extraordinary feat,” said DCFS Secretary David Matlock. “The eligibility requirements, the expungement window, even the benefit funding process – all of that is different from the Pandemic EBT program, and all of it required system changes for us and for our EBT vendor. It also required the hard work and collaboration of our federal and state partners, and we want to thank them for supporting us through this process.”
SUN Bucks is a USDA-funded program that provides grocery-buying benefits to low-income families for the summer months when children are not receiving breakfast and lunch at school.
Phase 2 of Louisiana’s SUN Bucks program will include:
- School-aged children (ages 5-18) who received Medicaid (income-eligible), Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP) or Kinship Care Subsidy Program (KCSP) benefits during the 2023-2024 school year.
- Children who received free or reduced-price school meals in 2023-2024 because their family’s income met the requirements of the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program (NSLP/SBP). (Children who attended a Community Eligibility Provision school, where all students received free lunch regardless of household income, are not automatically eligible for SUN Bucks but may apply during Phase 3 if their household income is below 185% of the federal poverty level.)
Phase 2 children are automatically eligible for SUN Bucks benefits and will not need to apply. DCFS is working with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) as well as the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and the state’s NSLP-participating schools to gather eligibility information. DCFS will then issue new EBT cards, preloaded with SUN Bucks benefits, to these children beginning in late July. The Phase 2 cards will go out in waves by eligibility group (Medicaid, FITAP, KCSP, NSLP) over the course of a few weeks.
The Phase 3 application period for children not automatically certified as eligible in Phases 1 and 2 will open after Phase 2 cards have been issued.
Because SUN Bucks is a new program with different requirements, not all children who were eligible for Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) will be eligible for SUN Bucks, and SUN Bucks benefits will not be issued on existing P-EBT cards.
Phase 1 recipients will receive SUN Bucks on their household’s existing SNAP EBT card. Lost SNAP EBT cards can be replaced by calling 1-888-997-1117, visiting www.LifeInCheckEBT.com, using the LifeInCheck EBT app, or utilizing CAFE. Households with recently closed cases must call 1-888-997-1117.
Phases 2 and 3 will receive SUN Bucks on a new EBT card that will be mailed to the address on file for the child with their Medicaid, FITAP or KCSP case, or with the child’s school. Families should make sure their child’s mailing address is up-to-date with their caseworker and school in order to avoid delays in receiving their cards.
SUN Bucks must be used within 122 days of the issuance date, or the benefits will expire and cannot be added back to the card.
Recipients may use SUN Bucks benefits to purchase SNAP-eligible food items at stores that accept EBT cards.
For more information about Louisiana SUN Bucks, including answers to Frequently Asked Questions, visit sunbucks.la.gov.
For information about other summer feeding programs, visit the USDA SUN Programs page at www.fns.usda.gov/summer. A map of summer feeding sites can be found at www.fns.usda.gov/summer/sitefinder.