Deadline approaching for children’s summer nutrition program

Key Takeaways

By January 1, 2025, states must submit a notice of intent in order to participate in the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program (Summer EBT), also known as SUN Bucks, in Summer 2025. Summer EBT is an important tool that helps to close the food insecurity gap among children when school meals are not available during the summer months. In 2024, 13 states elected not to participate in Summer EBT, leaving federal benefits on the table and limiting children’s access to nutritious food.

Addressing summer hunger with Summer EBT

• Counties play a crucial role in addressing food and nutrition insecurity for low-income residents, especially children, by partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement federal nutrition assistance programs.
• Summer EBT provides families with $120 in federally funded grocery benefits on an EBT card for each school-age child who is eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. The program is expected to benefit over 29 million low-income children who might otherwise struggle to access nutritious meals during the summer in 2025.
• Summer EBT benefits may be utilized with other benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Take action to ensure Summer EBT is implemented in your state

• County leaders committed to reducing child hunger should encourage their state to submit a notice of intent to their regional USDA Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) office to participate by January 1, 2025.
• USDA is providing $100 million in technology grants to support states participating in the Summer EBT Program in 2025. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2025.  

Additional Resources

Summer EBT Notice of Intent Templates

Summer EBT Implementation Toolkit

Summer EBT Q&As

Estimated Numbers of Summer EBT Eligible Children By State/Territory

Summer EBT Eligibility Guide