SUN Bucks 2024 Application

Qualifying for SUN Bucks can be automatic or through application.

1. Many students will automatically be approved for SUN Bucks without families having to do anything.

A student will automatically be approved if they meet any of these criteria:

• They applied and were approved for free or reduced-price meals at school,
• Their family receives assistance through Food and Nutrition Services (FNS, also known as food stamps),
• Their family is part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, known as WorkFirst in NC, which is a cash assistance program),
• The family is eligible for Medicaid and the family income is below 185% of the federal poverty level,
• Or, they're placed in foster care

If your child's school doesn't have the NSLP or CEP program, they will only qualify for SUN Bucks if they are aged 7-16 (birth date should be between September 2, 2006 – August 31, 2017) and meet any of the above criteria. No application needed.

2. Some students will need to apply for SUN Bucks.
If your child goes to a National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) school but doesn't fit into any of the categories above, you'll have to apply. You will need to show proof of your family's qualifying income (see Table 1 below). Families who would need to apply for SUN Bucks will be invited to apply and will get an email or text to apply for SUN Bucks with instructions on how to find the application.

This is important: Children who are not enrolled in schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) cannot apply for SUN Bucks. However, a student attending a non-NSLP school may still receive SUN Bucks if they meet any of the criteria listed in the first part of this question. Most public schools have NSLP, and some charter and private schools do too. You can ask your child's school if it's a NSLP or CEP school. Some schools post this information online as well. 

Students who attend virtual, homeschool, or hybrid schools may qualify for SUN Bucks if they meet any of the criteria listed in the first part of this question. 

These requirements are based on rules from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

Please use the SUN Bucks School Search Tool to check if your child’s school participates in the NSLP or is a CEP school.

While some families will need to apply for the SUN Bucks program, many students will be automatically approved for it. To check if your child or children would be automatically approved or if they need to apply, look at “Does my child qualify for SUN Bucks?” 

Families who would need to apply for SUN Bucks will be invited to apply and will get an email or text to apply for SUN Bucks with instructions on how to find the application. 

Children who are not enrolled in schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) cannot apply for SUN Bucks. However, a student attending a non-NSLP school may still receive SUN Bucks if they meet certain criteria, please refer to “Does my child qualify for SUN Bucks?”

Please use the SUN Bucks School Search Tool to check if your child’s school participates in the NSLP or is a CEP school.  

Soon, more details about how to apply will be shared on the SUN Bucks webpage (www.ncdhhs.gov/sunbucks) and NCDHHS social media accounts. These accounts are on Facebook, Instagram, and X (previously Twitter).

To submit an application in Spanish, you can call 1-866-719-0141 and select Option 2 to speak with a SUN Bucks representative who will complete the application over the phone.

Para presentar una solicitud en español, puede llamar al 1-866-719-0141 y luego oprimir 2 para hablar con el representante de SUN Bucks quien completará la solicitud por teléfono.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a program started by the federal government that works in most public schools and some charter and private nonprofit schools. As part of this program, kids who meet certain criteria can get free meals or meals at a lower price through their school. 

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a part of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). It lets schools and education groups in certain places give meals to all students at no cost. They can do this without having to collect forms from each family about their income. 

To find out if your child’s school was part of the NSLP or CEP for the 2023 – 2024 school year, you can call the school. Some schools also put this information on their website. 

Please remember: Some schools use different programs to give all students meals at no cost. These programs are not the same as the NSLP or CEP meal programs and have nothing to do with SUN Bucks. 

Please use the SUN Bucks School Search Tool to check if your child’s school participates in the NSLP or is a CEP school.  

Many students will automatically be approved for SUN Bucks without families having to do anything. A student will automatically be approved if they meet any of these criteria:

• They applied and were approved for free or reduced-price meals at school during the 2023-2024 school year, or
• Their family receives assistance through Food and Nutrition Services (FNS, also known as food stamps), or
• Their family is part of the Work First program (TANF, which is a cash assistance program), or
• The family is eligible for Medicaid and the family income is below 185% of the federal poverty level, or
• They're placed in foster care.

If your child's school doesn't have the NSLP or CEP program, they will only qualify for SUN Bucks if they are aged 7-16 at any time between July 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024 and meet any of the above criteria. No application needed. 

The SUN Bucks application for SUN Bucks benefits for the summer of 2024 will close on August 31 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

If you do not want to apply online through https://ncdhhs.servicenowservices.com/gsp, there are two other ways to apply:

1. Over the phone by calling 1-866-719-0141 and selecting Option 2 to speak with a SUN Bucks representative who will walk through the application with you and complete the digital application for you over the phone.
2. Through a paper application. You can email a copy back to DCFW.SUNBucks@dhhs.nc.gov or mail your completed application to the address listed on the bottom of the application. There are three ways to get a paper application:
   • You can get a paper application from your school’s main office, or
   • You can call 1-866-719-0141 and select Option 2 to speak to a SUN Bucks representative and ask for a paper application to be mailed to you, or
   • You can email DCFW.SUNBucks@dhhs.nc.gov to request a paper application be mailed to you.

Please note, the digital application is the preferred method of applying. Paper applications may take longer to process.

Families should apply for SUN Bucks in the state where the child finished the prior school year. NCDHHS cannot verify a student’s enrollment in an eligible school if they were not enrolled in a North Carolina school during the 2023-2024 school year.

NCDHHS will send out electronic invitations to apply in June based on the school the child attended during the 2023-2024 School Year. The school must have been a NSLP or CEP participating school (see “What is an NSLP or CEP school? How do I know if my child’s school was NSLP?”). Children who are known to automatically qualify will not receive an invitation to apply because they do not need to apply to get SUN Bucks.

Please note that some families could have one child who needs to apply and one who doesn’t depending on their school enrollment and whether or not they meet the criteria to automatically qualify.

Families will need an email address to apply (whether the application is digital or paper) because email will be used to communicate with the applicant as this is where the notice of approval or denial will be sent. The only thing that will be physically mailed is the SUN Bucks card for eligible children.

If you need to create an email address, Gmail (from Google) is a free option that is easy to set up. Visit www.gmail.com and follow the prompts to set up an email through Gmail.

A phone number is not required to fill out the application but is strongly encouraged. A phone number will help NCDHHS get in contact with you to complete processing the application, if needed.

Everyone who lives together and purchases and prepares meals together is grouped together as one household. Please include everyone who fits this definition as part of your household .

You should fill out a single application that includes all children in your household who may be eligible.

Important: A household may have a child who needs to apply and a child who automatically qualifies depending on their school enrollment and whether they meet the criteria to automatically qualify. You will not need to apply for a child who automatically qualifies for SUN Bucks, but you MUST still include them as part of your household. If you are uncertain if a child automatically qualifies, you can apply for them. If they do automatically qualify, you will get an email with a denial notice that tells you that child automatically qualifies.

If there is already a household associated with your email, you can move straight to the application, do NOT create a new household. You can view your household by clicking the “Your Information” tab at the top of the page and selecting “Household Members.”

If you need to make any updates to your household, you can do so. See “What if I need to update information for my household?” for information on how to update your household.

You should only fill out an application for a child that is in your care. If you do not provide meals for the child, you should NOT fill out an application for them. SUN Bucks benefits are intended to help provide nutritious food for qualifying children.

A foster child is a child whose care and placement is the responsibility of (or formally placed with) a relative or other caretaker by a court or county DSS office while the State has legal custody of the child.

A foster child should be found automatically eligible. However, if you have a foster child enrolled in an NSLP or CEP school in your home, you can include the foster child in your application to be certain the child’s enrollment in SUN Bucks is not missed. 

Yes, the student’s ID number is required. The student’s school enrollment can only be confirmed if a student ID is provided, and this is required to process the application.

If you cannot find your child’s student ID, please contact the child’s school. Student IDs can also be found on most student report cards and student ID cards.

The child’s social security number isn’t required, but it can help the application process and help get the child benefits faster.

More information about each child helps NCDHHS better understand if they’re eligible, which can help them get benefits quicker. NCDHHS makes protection of the applicant and all application information a top priority.

No. The information entered in the application must be about the child(ren) the applicant is applying for. If information is entered in the application that is not for a child, application processing will take longer and the child may be found ineligible.

Case numbers are typically listed on the original approval letter for the applicable program. If you no longer have your program approval letter, please contact your caseworker for assistance.

Since SUN Bucks is an income-based program, NCDHHS needs to know the gross income for everyone in the household to confirm that the household’s income is within the threshold limits to qualify. Gross income is the amount of income received from all sources BEFORE taxes or other deductions are taken out.

Income for all household members must be reported in the application. If a child in the household has a source of income, their income should also be included in the application.

Note: Infrequent earnings should not be included; this includes things like babysitting income or income from mowing lawns.

The application processing time will take approximately 15 business days from the date of submission. If additional information is needed to process your application, you will get an email from NCDHHS@servicenowservices.com with a request to provide the information.

Once your application is processed, you will get an email from NCDHHS@servicenowservices.com with an approval or denial notice.

You will get an email from NCDHHS@servicenowservices.com sent to the email address that was entered in the application. You will get a separate email notice for each child you applied for. The email will include a notice of approval or denial and will explain the decision for your application.

You can update your household information by following the instructions below:

1. Visit https://ncdhhs.servicenowservices.com/gsp and log in
2. Click “Services,” in the top left corner of the screen
3. Select “Update Profile and Household”

4. Make any changes necessary to the profile or household.
   Note: If you are removing household members or updating a household member’s information, click the pencil in the Actions column of the household member table. Then, select the action you are taking for that member of the household. If you are adding a member, select “Add” and select that you are adding as your household member action.

   5. Click the “Submit” on the right side of the screen to finalize and save the changes.

If the applicant’s address changes after application submission or application approval, the applicant can edit their household address by logging back into the application. See “What if I need to update information for my household?” for full instructions on updating your household information. An applicant can also call the EBT Call Center at 1-866-719-0141 and select Option 2 to speak with a SUN Bucks representative to tell them their new address.

If the application is approved, the card will be sent to the address in the application.

If the applicant has gone through the issuance process, it will be too late to change the address and the SUN Bucks card will be sent to whatever the address was on the application at time of issuance. 

If your situation has changed or you didn’t include relevant information and you believe this has an impact on your application decision, you can reapply. Please note that these are the only reasons an application can be resubmitted.

If you have questions about your denial, please call the SUN Bucks call center at 1-866-719-0141 and select Option 2 to speak to a SUN Bucks agent.

NOTE: You cannot revise any part of your application once it is submitted. However, you can update your household information.

Yes, there are other food benefit programs if you need help with food assistance now. Participation in these programs may also automatically qualify a student for SUN Bucks:

• Free or reduced-price school meals – provides children and teenagers breakfast, lunch, and snacks while they are at school at low or no cost. Contact your child’s school for more information and to apply.
• Food and Nutrition Services (FNS, food stamps) – these are food benefits that are issued to a debit card for families to purchase groceries. More information can be found at the FNS Homepage. Apply here online or find a FNS office closest to you by using our Local Department of Social Services finder.

For additional resources:

• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) - Provides food assistance benefits, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to healthcare and social services for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children under age 5.
• Visit the Food Research & Action Center for more information on the various food assistance programs offered in North Carolina.
• If you would like information on other options to get help with food, visit https://nc211.org or dial 2-1-1 or 1-888-892-1162 to speak with an operator who can tell you about food assistance resources in your area.