Children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school are eligible for food assistance over the summer break, state officials announced Monday.
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services will participate in the SUN Bucks program again this summer, although Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration was at first reluctant to do so a year ago. The state agency is proactively telling families about the program, though it says nearly all participants are already signed up to receive the one-time benefit of $120.
“Most eligible children will be automatically enrolled and do not need to apply,” Sammy Guillory, DCFS assistant secretary for family support, said in a statement.
The summer benefits will be added to SNAP recipients’ EBT cards or the SUN Bucks card they were issued last summer. The money is available to use for 122 days after it is issued. It will be doled out starting in the second half of May for children already enrolled in the program.
To be eligible, children must be born between Aug. 8, 2006, and July 1, 2028 and have received income-based food, financial or Medicaid support since July 1, 2024. The threshold for families to receive the assistance is a household income below 185% of the federal poverty level, which comes to $59,477 for a family of four.
Families who no longer have EBT or SUN Bucks cards should call 1-888-997-1117 or visit www.LifeInCheckEBT.com to request a replacement. Families who need to apply for SUN Bucks can do so online.
SUN Bucks evolved from a federal COVID pandemic food aid program that the Biden administration chose to keep in place in 2024. But when states were asked in late 2023 whether they would continue to participate the following summer, Louisiana Education Superintendent Cade Brumley opted out. His department determines eligibility for the program that DCFS administers.
Brumley explained at the time he thought it wasn’t fair to approve a program the incoming Landry administration would have to shoulder without any say-so.
Shortly after his appointment in early 2024, Landry’s DCFS secretary, David Matlock, also said his agency wouldn’t offer the Summer EBT program because “families deserve a pathway to self-sufficiency.” He insisted existing programs would cover food needs over the summer, although critics said many families lacked transportation to pick up the “grab-and-go” prepared meals Matlock was promoting.
The secretary later told state lawmakers his priority for any public resources would be addressing staff shortages within his department affecting child welfare.
The Landry administration ultimately caved under pressure from Republican lawmakers who noted for every $1 Louisiana spent to administer the summer food program, the state received $1.60 in federal funds. All told, the state stood to miss out on $70 million from Washington.
Louisiana was the second poorest state in the nation with a poverty rate of 18.9% in 2023, the most recent data available from the Census Bureau.
Last year, nearly 670,000 Louisiana children received SUN Bucks benefits, and almost 100% were automatically enrolled, according to Guillory. Families who have changed their home address are encouraged to update their records with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other assistance programs to avoid delays with receiving food assistance this summer.
In 2023, incorrect addresses prevented more than 124,000 children in Louisiana from receiving pandemic food assistance. Several states reported similar problems, but Louisiana was too slow to rectify the issue and lost $16 million in federal aid as a result.