More than 5.2 million people receive CalFresh benefits in the state of California. These allocations are not cash deliveries but are electronic money deposits made by means of electronic benefit cards, EBT transfer. The resources that are given to families in need through the CalFresh program are intended to support them in their struggle to get ahead and eat healthily. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is the agency responsible for administering CalFresh benefits in the golden State.
In addition to the CalFresh benefits, the program will be distributing the SUN Bucks during the summer months, during which time school canteens around the country are closed for the holidays. Thousands of children throughout the state of California and throughout the United States rely heavily on the food provided to them through school canteens.
California Joined the Summer EBT — SUN Bucks Initiative for Children
That’s why the state of California joined the SUN Bucks program, a renewed version of the well-known Summer-EBT, which offers extra money to those families with school-age children who attend schools where they are provided with food in cafeterias at no cost or at a reduced price.
Each qualifying child will receive $120 in total over the three months, or $40 per month during June, July, and August 2024. Those who receive free or subsidized school meals, or who receive CalFresh, CalWORKs, participate in Head Start or Medi-Cal are eligible and automatically enrolled.
How to apply for CalFresh SUN Bucks benefits?
For most eligible minors, enrollment in the SUN Bucks is an automatic process called simplified certification, which means that no formal application will be required. There are two ways for children to receive SUN Bucks automatically:
- Children ages 6 to 18 receiving CalFresh, CalWORKs, or Medi-Cal (certified at or below 185% of the federal poverty level).
- Children ages 0-22 who attend a school participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and are determined to be eligible for free or reduced-price meals based on a School meals application or Alternative Income Form.
- If your child or children meet either of these two eligibility parameters, you don’t have to do anything: you will be notified that the SUN Bucks benefits are approved and they will be sent to you by means of a special EBT card.
Children ages 0-22 who were not previously considered eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school canteens may also be eligible to receive allowances through the SUN Bucks program. Apply for a school meals application or alternative income form at your child’s school.
SUN Bucks Program Is Already Starting to Send the Benefits
The California CDSS began sending summer benefits from mid-June until about the end of August. Due to the high volume of automatically eligible beneficiary children, which are almost 5 million in the entire state of California, the benefits will be issued in two stages:
Stage 1
In the first stage the EBT cards will be sent to all the children enrolled automatically. They will be sent by postal mail in alphabetical order according to the child’s surname:
- Mid-June: A-D
- July: E-L
- August: M-Z
Stage 2
In stage 2, their EBT cards will be sent to those children who were not automatically enrolled in stage 1 but were determined to be eligible based on the following requirements:
- Alternative forms of income,
- Applications for school meals, or
- Get CalWORKs, CalFresh or Medi-Cal (below 185% of the FPL).
Regardless of the date the EBT card arrives to the beneficiary child, each will receive $120 in total.
