The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is asking everyone who receives food benefits through various programs to keep their information current because it will let the state know who’s eligible for a new program that’s expected to provide food to almost one million school children across the state during the summer months when school is out.
NCDHHS has been working with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to establish the program. On Tuesday, March 5, NCDHHS announced its intent to administer the US Department of Agriculture’s new Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Program called “SUN Bucks.”
The families that qualify will receive a one-time payment of $120 per eligible child for the summer period. SUN Bucks will be distributed to families on debit-like cards that will allow members of the family to buy groceries at stores that accept the current EBT debit card. That includes most major grocery stores across the state.
In a press release announcing the new benefits, NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley stated this should help the kids in more ways than one.
“Food is foundational to health,” Kinsley said. “The SUN Bucks program will help relieve kids’ hunger, support their health and promote the ability for them to learn.”
The SUN Bucks program will work together this summer with other nutrition aid programs.
Most eligible children will automatically qualify for the program. However, some families will need to apply for the new benefit. Children automatically qualify if they’re already eligible for any of the following programs:
• Free and reduced-price meals at schools
• Food and Nutrition Services
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Also, if a family currently receives NC Medicaid benefits and has a household income below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, they’ll automatically qualify.
If your child is already individually approved to receive free and reduced-price meals at school, you have until March 28 to update your address at your child’s school to make sure you receive the SUN Bucks card at the correct mailing address during the summer.
You can visit www.ncdhhs.gov/sunbucks for eligibility criteria and other information.
I wonder how many of the SunBucks cards will be used for alcohol, lottery tickets or tobacco and not for food for the “chil’run”. Not a mention of limitations on what can be bought, but, hey, money if fungible….
altruism is aok. it tests/identifies ‘human’ ?
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Can we tell the truth? This is not providing food to children, it’s providing money to parents. And since money is fungible, it is basically financing Daddy’s liquor and Mommy’s cigarettes.
Here’s another inconvenient truth. The next time you’re stopped behind an unloading school bus, see if you can spot any white kids disembarking. All I see is black and brown children. So this program is also just another transfer payment from whites to non-whites, for the most part.
These two dynamics satisfy the objectives of Leftists ( increasing dependency on the state, and seizing wealth from whites to give it to non-whites).
Typical right wing misinformation fear mongering from Austin. The program actually distributes debit-like cards (EBT cards) that have restrictions on what type of items can be purchased using the cards.
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Typical stupid response from our Village Idiot.
Look up FUNGIBLE buddy, and try to understand it.
Austin just can’t help fear mongering.
Per USDA analysis 14 out of 10,000 households involved in SNAP are guilty of food stamp abuse. That is basically zero percent. Most of the fraud is from people receiving the benefit illegally, theft of cards from the mail and fraud committed by stores that accept the cards.
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You STILL don’t understand what “fungible” means!
You really are very stupid. I suggest you quit polluting these columns with your inanity.
Find some other outlet for your jejune, smug, pontificating.
You can’t cut it.
Uh, yeah.
It would be better if the sack lunches were delivered to kids or they picked up weekly frozen lunches like the Meals on Wheels program does for rural seniors. Having $120/child for the entire summer doesn’t sound like enough, although that is in addition to the amount they already get in EBT benefits.
What concerns me is that I personally know several people who use their EBT cards to buy canned and packaged items, especially during the Summer, then sell them in their neighborhoods to fund trips to the beach and other vacation spots. It’s difficult later in the Fall and Winter when these same people ask for help paying rent or power bills. Practicing tough love has been hard where kids are involved.