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     CLICK HERE FOR FULL PAMPHLET    →  SUN BUCKS INFORMATION

     

    What is Summer EBT/SUN Bucks:

    A new program called Summer EBT, or “SUN Bucks,” has been authorized by a bipartisan U.S. Congress to provide food dollars to low-income families with school-aged children over the summer months. The program is proven to reduce food insecurity and improve children's nutrition during summer break. Governor Shapiro’s administration announced that the Commonwealth would participate in this program beginning in the summer of 2024. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees the program, and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) coordinates the benefit issuance in Pennsylvania.

     

    Who is Eligible:

    A student is automatically eligible for 2024 Summer EBT/SUN Bucks if they are enrolled at a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP), AND they qualify for free or reduced-price school meals for any of these reasons:

     

    1. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or
    2. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or
    3. Medical Assistance with income that qualifies them for the NSLP/SBP, or
    4. Household meal application with income that qualifies, or
    5. Are homeless, runaway, migrant, foster, or in Head Start

     

    If your child is automatically eligible for Summer EBT/SUN Bucks, you do not need to do anything else to receive the benefit.

     

    Students who are homeschooled or are taught virtually for 100% of the school year are ineligible for Summer EBT/SUN Bucks. The only exception is if the child also attends a school building regularly that offers them NSLP/SBP school meals

     

    **PLEASE NOTE

     

    *IMPORTANT: Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a special program that allows NSLP/SBP schools in low-income areas to feed all students for free during the school year, regardless of each student’s economic level. However, Summer EBT/SUN Bucks is based on each student’s situation. Students at CEP schools are not automatically eligible for Summer EBT/SUN Bucks unless they receive SNAP, TANF, or Medical Assistance with income that qualifies them for free/reduced meals or are homeless, runaway, migrant, foster, or in Head Start.

      

    Summer EBT/SUN Bucks Application:

    Families should only submit a Summer EBT/SUN Bucks application if their child attended an NSLP/SBP-participating school in the 2023-2024 school year and was not found automatically eligible for Summer EBT/SUN Bucks.

     

    Summer EBT/SUN Bucks applications will be available on July 1, 2024, on the DHS SUN Bucks webpage as a fillable PDF form in English and Spanish. DHS will review the family’s application to confirm that the child attended an NSLP/SBP school, and that the family income qualifies for the benefit (185% or less of the federal poverty level). To qualify for SUN Bucks for 2024, an application must be submitted by August 31, 2024. Any applications submitted on or after September 1, 2024, will be held and considered only for SUN Bucks for the summer of 2025.