Eligibility

Please see the SUN Bucks Flow Chart

For most eligible children, enrollment in SUN Bucks (Summer EBT) is an automatic process called streamlined certification.

SUN Bucks benefits apply to children that meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. Streamlined certification through the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS): Age 6–18 and enrollment in CalFresh, CalWORKs, or Medi-Cal (with income confirmed at or under 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level [FPL]).

OR

2. Certification through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS): Enrollment in a school participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)/School Breakfast Program (SBP).

AND

Determined eligible during the school year or the directly succeeding summer period for free or reduced-price meals (FRPM) through NSLP meal application or Universal Benefits Application (UBA), local direct certification, or designation as homeless, migrant, or foster.

Eligibility for SUN Bucks benefits are automatically determined by the CDSS using data from CalSAWS and FRPM eligibility records submitted to the CDE. Children determined to be eligible for SUN Bucks through CalSAWS must participate in CalFresh, CalWORKS, or Medi-Cal (at or under 185 percent of the FPL).

Children determined eligible for SUN Bucks benefits through FRPM records must be categorically eligible based on their designation as migrant, homeless, or foster or directly certified based on participation in a federal benefit such as CalFresh, CalWORKS, or Medi-Cal (at or under 185 percent of the FPL). Children who are not categorically eligible or directly certified must apply to be determined eligible for SUN Bucks. The type of application that a child must submit is dependent upon their school of attendance’s school meal participation (standard counting and claiming or provision status).

Children who attend a standard counting and claiming school are required to submit a school meal application annually. Eligibility determinations that are reported to the CDE via CALPADS (181 and 182 records) will result in children receiving summer 2025 SUN Bucks.

Children who attend school sites that participate in a federal feeding provision (Community Eligibility Provision [CEP] or Provision 2 [P2]) and are not categorically eligible or directly certified, must establish SUN Bucks eligibility through the submission of a UBA. UBA records must be submitted to the CDE via the Education Data Collection System (EDCS). Note that schools that are establishing a new P2 base year will utilize meal applications during their base year in lieu of the UBA.

Eligibility for 2025 SUN Bucks

Children may be determined eligible through CALPADS if they have attended or are attending an NSLP/SBP participating school anytime during the eligibility period, and have an FRPM record in CALPADS based on an NSLP meal application, a local direct certification match with the LEA’s county welfare department, are categorically eligible based on a migrant or homeless record, have been identified as a foster youth in CALPADS, or are reported to the CDE as FRPM eligible based on an approved UBA. Students enrolling for the first time in the 2025−26 school year must submit a UBA, as the Alternative Income Form will no longer qualify students attending CEP or Provision 2 schools for SUN Bucks.

Private schools participating in the NSLP/SBP in California do not have access to CALPADS. For information on private school FRPM records, see the FAQ tab.

Important notes:

• SUN Bucks is a new program and does not have the same eligibility requirements as Pandemic EBT (P-EBT). With P-EBT all students enrolled in CEP schools were automatically eligible for P-EBT. This is not the case for SUN Bucks, which requires annual individual eligibility determinations based on household income requirements.

• Not all children enrolled in Medi-Cal are automatically eligible for SUN Bucks. Children who receive Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment, or the Adoption Assistance Program may be enrolled in Medi-Cal but they may not meet the 185 percent of the FPL threshold to be eligible for SUN Bucks. Children that fall into this category may need to submit an NSLP meal application or a UBA with their LEA to determine their eligibility for SUN Bucks.

• In California, the Universal Meals Program provides school meals at no cost to all school age children, regardless of their FRPM eligibility. If a student has not been certified at or below 185 percent of the FPL, they may need to submit a school NSLP meal application or a UBA to their LEA to determine their eligibility for SUN Bucks.