Summer EBT provides families with school-aged children with an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card to purchase groceries during the summer when school is out.
Summer EBT provides families with a monthly grocery benefit to feed their children for three summer months (June, July, August) when children are not receiving free or reduced-price meals at school.
In summer 2024, families will receive a one-time benefit of $120 for the summer for each eligible child. Benefits are distributed on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card and can be used at authorized retail stores.
Children must be eligible for free or reduced-priced school meals, in other words they must reside in a household that has total household income at or below 185% of the federal poverty level.
There are several ways to demonstrate eligibility (see next section).
No citizenship requirement. Summer EBT will not be considered under the public charge rule.
If your child qualifies for Summer EBT through an application on file with a school operating the National School Lunch Program, they do not have an additional age requirement.
If your child qualifies for Summer EBT through their participation in another qualifying program (SNAP, TANF, Income Eligible Medicaid, and/or Youth in Care/foster care) and your child does not have a completed application on file with a school operating the National School Lunch Program, they must meet Illinois’s compulsory school age (age 6-17).
Many eligible families will be automatically enrolled in Summer EBT based on their participation in another qualifying program. This section describes which programs qualify you for eligibility.
Starting late June, you will be able to check online whether your child’s eligibility has been confirmed. Please check back for details.
There are two main pathways to sign up for Summer EBT.
Your child will be automatically enrolled in Summer EBT if they are enrolled in one of the following programs at any point during the period of 7/1/2023 through 8/31/2024. You do not need to apply but you should verify that your address on file is up-to-date.
If your child attends a NSLP school where all meals are served free:
Contact your school as soon as possible to complete an Alternative Household Income application and make sure your address on file is up-to-date.
If your child attends a NSLP school and your child qualifies for free or reduced-price school meals but your family did not complete an application:
Contact your school as soon as possible to complete a free or reduced-price meal application and make sure your address on file is up-to-date.
If your child attends a NSLP school and your child has a completed application for free or reduced-price school meals:
You do not need to complete an additional application. Make your sure your address on file is up-to-date.
In Summer 2024, benefits will be issued in late summer.
Families will receive a one-time benefit of $120 for each eligible child to purchase groceries.
If your child is enrolled in SNAP/TANF and you have an active Link card, Summer EBT benefits will be loaded onto your Link card. If you haven’t used your Link card in the last 60 days, a new card will be mailed to you.
If your child is not enrolled in SNAP/TANF, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) will issue a card that will be mailed to you.
Cards will be mailed to the address that the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) has on file for you. The address on file will be the address associated with the program that was used to determine your child’s eligibility for Summer EBT (school application, SNAP, Medicaid, TANF or foster care).
Update your address with the program that was used to determine your child’s eligibility for Summer EBT.
Families can work with their local school or local DHS office to provide an address for card delivery.
If your family is enrolled in SNAP, TANF, or income eligible Medicaid in Illinois and you have a school-aged child, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) will automatically enroll you in Summer EBT.
If your family is NOT enrolled in SNAP, TANF, or income eligible Medicaid in Illinois and you moved to Illinois after the end of the 2023-2024 school year, you should contact your prior state to determine eligibility for Summer EBT in 2024.
You should only receive Summer EBT benefits from one state each year. If you accidentally receive benefits from more than one state, you should only use the benefits from the state where your child completed the prior school year.
Summer EBT benefits can be redeemed at authorized retail stores. Find a list of authorized retailers.
Summer EBT benefits can be used to purchase SNAP-eligible items. Find a list of SNAP eligible food-items.
Yes. Summer EBT benefits must be used within 122 days of issuance.
Yes. You can get Summer EBT even if your child is getting free meals at school, camp, or other places this summer.
The Summer Meals Site Finder will go live in May 2024 for the 2024 summer period.
Families can text “FOOD” (or “COMIDA”) to 304-304.
Families can also contact the USDA National Hunger Hotline, operated by Hunger Free America. The hotline can be reached Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479) (for English) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273) (for Spanish).
No. It is important to know that Summer EBT will not count in a public charge test. All students are eligible regardless of immigration status. Visit ProtectingImmigrantFamilies.org for information about what public benefits impact the public charge test.
To be eligible, your family must have income at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. Check your annual or monthly household income against the charts below. Note that income cut-offs will change on July 1, 2024.
From July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024
https://www.isbe.net/Documents/IEG-24.pdf
Annual Income Limits for Families Through June 30, 2024
| # of Persons in Family | Income Limit |
| 1 | $26,973 |
| 2 | $36,482 |
| 3 | $45,991 |
| 4 | $55,500 |
| 5 | $65,009 |
| 6 | $74,518 |
| 7 | $84,027 |
| 8 | $93,536 |
Monthly Income Limits for Families Through June 30, 2024
| # of Persons in Family | Income Limit |
| 1 | $2,248 |
| 2 | $3,041 |
| 3 | $3,833 |
| 4 | $4,625 |
| 5 | $5,418 |
| 6 | $6,210 |
| 7 | $7,003 |
| 8 | $7,795 |
From July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025
https://www.isbe.net/Documents/IEG-25.pdf
Annual Income Limits for Families through June 30, 2025
| # of Persons in Family | Income Limit |
| 1 | $27,861 |
| 2 | $37,814 |
| 3 | $47,767 |
| 4 | $57,720 |
| 5 | $67,673 |
| 6 | $77,626 |
| 7 | $87,579 |
| 8 | $97,532 |
Monthly Income Limits for Families through June 30, 2025
| # of Persons in Family | Income Limit |
| 1 | $2,322 |
| 2 | $3,152 |
| 3 | $3,981 |
| 4 | $4,810 |
| 5 | $5,640 |
| 6 | $6,469 |
| 7 | $7,299 |
| 8 | $8,128 |
We Got You Illinois helps Illinois residents get connected to nutrition assistance programs by providing information about all nutrition programs in one place, including how programs work, who is eligible, and how to apply.
The full website is launching summer 2024. We Got You Illinois is an initiative of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger.