CALPADS Update Flash #282

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

From:      California Department of Education (CDE) –
                California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team

Date:       June 20, 2024

Subject:  CALPADS Update FLASH #282

Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (S-EBT) Program Update

This Flash provides updates to Flash #269 which provided a detailed overview of the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (S-EBT) program, also referred to as “Sun BUCKS.” Local educational agencies (LEAs) should refer to Flash #269 for comprehensive information about the program, as those details will not be repeated here, except as reminders of key activities. For recent updates, the California Department Education’s (CDE’s) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) sent out a listserv message to their School Food Authorities (SFAs) and other nutrition partners. Please review this message, which is provided in the last section of this Flash. Highlights from the NSD message as well as California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) specific updates are provided below.

Hot Line Number Now Available

For household questions, families can contact the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Customer Service center at 1-877-328-9677.

LEAs should send all inquiries about S-EBT to SummerEBT@cde.ca.gov. Individual households should not use this email address, as this email address is not for household inquiries about S-EBT. LEAs should not send S-EBT inquiries to CALPADS Support or to the CALPADS email box.

Benefit Issuance

Students determined to be eligible through public assistance programs or records that were in CALPADS on or before March 29, 2024 will receive benefits in the mail from mid-June through August 31, 2024.

Students newly identified as eligible from March 30, through August 31, 2024 will receive benefits between September through November 2024. Therefore, it is important for LEAs to continue updating CALPADS with free or reduced-price meal, migrant, or homeless records (Education Program Codes 181, 182, 135, 191), as data will continue to be pulled from CALPADS monthly based on the dates specified in Flash #269.

Distribution of P-EBTs Card to Homeless Students

LEAs are reminded that for students with no address in CALPADS, which are often homeless students, LEAs populated the address of a school or the district office for those students in CALPADS. For students with no addresses in CALPADS, the CDE provided CDSS with the address of the district office for those students.

Since the bulk of these cards will be arriving in the mail to schools or district offices during the summer months (mid-June through August), LEAs are reminded that they will need to check their mail and distribute these cards to students during this time.

Collection of National School Lunch Program Applications and Alternative Income Forms Throughout the School Year

Students may become eligible for 2024 Summer-EBT benefits any time from July 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024. Therefore, LEAs should continue to make the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) application and the Alternative Income Form available to families throughout the school year and summer. This means that LEAs may accept NSLP applications and Alternative Income Forms during the year from existing families regardless of whether it is the LEA’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) base-year. LEAs should understand, however, that students who submit NSLP applications and Alternative Income Forms after October 31, 2023, may be eligible for 2024 S-EBT benefits, but these students would not be counted in the LEA’s 2023-24 Unduplicated Pupil Count based on Free or Reduced Priced Meal eligibility.

Listserv Message Sent by Nutrition Services Division

The following message was sent by the CDE’s Nutrition Services Division to SFAs and other nutrition partners:

Dear Program Operators,

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the California Department of Education's Summer EBT (S-EBT) 2024 Plan of Operations and Management (POM) has officially been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). This approved plan outlines California’s strategies for ensuring an estimated 5.2 million children across our state will receive critical food benefits this summer.

Eligibility for 2024 S-EBT benefits will automatically be determined by the CDSS using data from the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWs) and free and reduced-price meal (FRPM) eligibility records in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). Children determined eligible for S-EBT benefits through CALPADS must be directly certified, or FRPM eligible through a National School Lunch Program meal application or alternative income form. For summer 2024, no separate S-EBT application is required. S-EBT benefits will continue to be administered through August 31, 2024, so SFAs are encouraged to continue making eligibility determinations and routinely updating CALPADS through this date.

The tentative benefit issuance timeline is as follows:

• Phase 1 – Public school students determined eligible through CALPADS or public assistance programs on or before March 29, 2024, and private school children determined eligible as of April 16, 2024. Households will begin receiving benefits mid-June through August 31, 2024.
• Phase 2 – Students newly identified as eligible from March 30, 2024, through August 31, 2024. Households will receive benefits September through November 2024.

For additional information on S-EBT, please visit the CDSS Sun BUCKS web page at https://cdss.ca.gov/sun-bucks.

Additionally, the CDSS recorded two S-EBT webinars which may be viewed at the links below:

• Pandemic EBT Outcomes and Summer EBT (SUN Bucks) Introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvWZYOmut-k (YouTube Video, 1:02:49)
• SUN Bucks - A New Summer EBT Program Coming in 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STz-YQ7Uwp4 (YouTube Video, 1:01:25)

Contact Information

For household questions, families can contact the CDSS Customer Service center at 1-877-328-9677.

For SFA questions, please reach out to SummerEBT@cde.ca.gov. This email address is not for household inquiries about S-EBT.

For questions about the SUN Bucks web page, please reach out to SUNBucks@cdss.ca.gov. This email address is not for household inquiries about S-EBT.

Thank you,

Nutrition Services Division, California Department of Education

NSD Customer Service & Survey: www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/nsdcs.asp

CDE Nutrition web page: www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/

CDE Nutrition on Twitter: @CDENutrition

CDE Child Nutrition Programs Course Catalog: www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/ed/cnpcoursecatalog.asp