New benefits program aims to ensure students maintain access to healthy foods during the summer
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
INDIANAPOLIS - The state of Indiana today announced that applications for the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SEBT) program, also known as SUN Bucks, are now open.
SUN Bucks is a new benefits program that provides families a one-time payment of $120 for each eligible school-aged child to help purchase groceries during the summer. This ensures that students continue to have access to healthy meals beyond the school year.
Children are eligible for the program if:
- The household already participates in SNAP, TANF, or income-based Medicaid, or
- The student has been identified as a ward of the state (foster child), homeless, or migrant, or
- The student attends a school that offers the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the household income meets the requirements for free or reduced-price school meals.
The benefits will be provided to eligible families on a separate EBT card and mailed directly to their home. Benefits can be used at authorized retailers, like grocery stores and farmers markets, to purchase healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and other protein sources, whole grains and dairy. These benefits are available in addition to free meals that children of all ages can get at SUN Meals sites in their communities.
Most eligible families will receive these benefits automatically and local schools will communicate eligibility to parents and families. Some parents will need to apply. The following households need to complete the online SUN Bucks application:
- Households with children attending a school operating the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), where all meals are free to students, and who have not been notified of automatic SUN Bucks eligibility.
- Households with children attending a school operating NSLP who were not approved for free or reduced meals during the school year.
- Households with children that do not attend a school operating NSLP and who receive SNAP, TANF, certain levels of income-based Medicaid, or are foster, migrant, or homeless.
SUN Bucks is funded by the state of Indiana and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Visit the Indiana SUN Bucks webpage to learn more about this new program and apply today.
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
- Mail:U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
- Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
- Email:Program.Intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.