Summer EBT Helps Feed 133,000 Kansas Kids
Dustin Hare | January 22, 2026
The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program (Summer EBT), also known as “SUN Bucks,” is a federal program that helps families with school-aged children offset some of the costs of buying food over the summer break. In 2025, this program provided food to more than 133,000 Kansas kids and brought approximately $16 million into our state’s economy.
Summer Is the Hungriest Time of Year for Kids
Throughout the school year, families rely on school meals to keep kids fed during the day. School lunch and breakfast programs have been shown to have several positive impacts on students. Consistent, healthy meals improve school attendance, academic performance, and behavior; promote good health and nutrition; and reduce childhood food insecurity. During the summer months, when kids aren’t in school, childhood food insecurity rates have historically spiked. In March 2020, when COVID-19 forced schools around the nation to close, Congress created a program called the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program (P-EBT) to help families pay for food since school meals were no longer an option. As schools opened back up, the program’s focus shifted to helping families during the summer months when school was not in session. In December 2022, Congress made the summer assistance program permanent with the authorization of Summer EBT.
Program Details
Summer EBT is available for families making up to 185% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Families who qualify receive a one-time payment of $120 for each qualifying child.
Funds are loaded onto an EBT card. If families already participate in an EBT program, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the funds will be loaded onto the existing card. For families who do not already have an EBT card, one is mailed to their home.
The funds are distributed near the typical end of the school year. In 2025, the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) distributed the funds in the last week of May. Once families receive the benefits, they have 122 days to spend them before they expire. Families who qualify can fill out an application through DCF, but most families are auto-enrolled and do not need to fill out an application. Autoenrollment is possible because the income threshold to qualify for Summer EBT is higher than or equal to the threshold required to qualify for Medicaid, SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and free and reduced-price lunches. If a student’s income has already been verified to qualify for one of these programs, then DCF knows that they also qualify for Summer EBT. Auto-enrollment reduces the administrative costs because most families can be enrolled without needing staff to review applications.
The Summer EBT benefits that families receive are fully funded at the federal level, and states are required to chip in 50% for the administrative costs associated with the program. For Kansas, our share of administrative costs comes to about $925,000 per year. States who wish to participate in Summer EBT must opt in to the program and submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for how they will implement and administer the program.
As of January 2026, all but 12 states are participating in Summer EBT. Kansas joined in 2024, the first year of the program being implemented. Summer EBT, which was a bipartisan effort by Congress to address childhood food insecurity, has been a great, recent addition to ensuring vulnerable populations, like kids, don’t go hungry. In its second year of operation in Kansas, 133,000 children were already benefiting. We look forward to the awareness continuing to spread, as only about half of the eligible population participated in 2025. As awareness continues to grow, we could see approximately 250,000 Kansas kids benefiting from the program and staying fed when school’s not in session.
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