INDIANAPOLIS — Parents who rely on schools to keep their kids from going hungry could get a much-needed financial boost for those difficult summer months.
Under the new Indiana Sun Bucks program launched by the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), eligible Indiana families will receive a $120 “Sun Bucks” card to pay for groceries.
”Once we were notified that this program was available, we jumped on it,” Brittany Jointer, the child nutrition director for MSD Wayne Township, said. “About 75 percent of our students are free or reduced, so we are serving well over 10,000 students that will qualify for this program.”
According to the nonprofit Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, families who receive a card can spend it on groceries that are SNAP-qualified.
”It’s a fantastic new federal program that Indiana has opted into,” Emily Weikert Bryant with Feeding Indiana’s Hungry said.
Households who already participate in SNAP, TANF, or other income-based Medicaid programs will automatically be enrolled. The same applies to households who have school-aged foster children or migrant children enrolled in free/reduced lunch.
”Those who are already certified will get their cards this month,” Weikert Bryant said.
Families whose kids are not certified through SNAP and go to schools that offer free meals to all kids (schools that participate in the Community Eligibility Provision of the National School Lunch Program) may need to apply.
“If a child goes to school in that district, [and] probably would qualify for free and reduced lunch, but isn’t already being certified through SNAP, TANF, or Medicaid, in those instances, a family may need to go through the process to apply,” Weikert Bryant said.
Jointer said the program could help as many as 10,000 kids in her community alone.
”When you hear about the $120, you think it doesn’t go a long way, but that’s something that you didn’t have originally, so anything helps, and so I believe this is a great start to help our families that are really in need and do need this money throughout the summer,” Jointer said. ”This program is very beneficial to our community and our district.”
FOX59/CBS4 was told that the rollout of the program would take several weeks. If you are eligible to receive a card and do not receive one by the end of June, click here to access the Indiana Sun Bucks service portal. The portal can also be used to deal with broken/lost cards.
Families who are not automatically enrolled have until Aug. 16 to apply.