Louisiana

DCFS Opens SUN Bucks Applications for Phase 3

Published

1 year ago

August 20, 2024

DCFS Opens SUN Bucks Applications for Phase 3

The following was provided by the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services:

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) announced the opening of the Phase 3 SUN Bucks application period on August 19, 2024. While most children who qualify for SUN Bucks were automatically enrolled and provided benefits during Phases 1 and 2, some families will need to complete an application to receive benefits.

Families can complete an online application by CLICKING HERE. A paper application option is also available for those who prefer to apply by mail. The application period will close on September 20, 2024.

SUN Bucks, funded by the USDA, aims to support low-income families by providing grocery-buying benefits during the summer when children do not receive school meals. Each eligible child receives a one-time benefit of $120. SUN Bucks must be used within 122 days from the date of issuance. This program is a critical part of Louisiana’s efforts to ensure that every child has access to nutritious food year-round.

Nearly $72 million in SUN Bucks benefits have been distributed to almost 600,000 children who received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP) or Kinship Care Subsidy Program (KCSP) benefits. In the final round of Phase 2, an additional $7 million in SUN Bucks benefits will be issued this week to approximately 59,000 students who qualified for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) during the 2023-2024 school year.

Who should apply during Phase 3?

Whether or not a child needs to apply may depend on the type of school they attend.

Children who should apply:

Students at Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) schools: All students at CEP schools receive free school meals without having to complete a form. CEP students who were not automatically enrolled in SUN Bucks during Phase 1 (SNAP recipients) or Phase 2 (Medicaid, FITAP, KCSP, & NSLP) will need to fill out a SUN Bucks application. Families unsure of their child’s enrollment status can verify by contacting their child’s school or calling the SUN Bucks helpline at 833-323-7482.
Children experiencing homelessness
Migrant children

Children who should not need to apply:

Children who have already been issued benefits: Children ages 5-18 (born between August 15, 2005, and July 1, 2018) who received SNAP, income-based Medicaid, FITAP or KCSP benefits during the 2023-2024 school year.
Students at National School Lunch Program (NSLP) schools who applied and qualified for free or reduced-price meals: Most public schools and some private schools participate in the NSLP. The SUN Bucks program will issue EBT cards to eligible NSLP students this week.

What about students at virtual and homeschools?

Children who do not attend NSLP/CEP schools are not eligible for SUN Bucks unless they received SNAP, income-based Medicaid, FITAP, or KCSP benefits at any time between July 1, 2023, and August 15, 2024, and were born between August 15, 2005, and July 1, 2018.

Children who were streamline certified in Phase 1 or Phase 2 were automatically enrolled in SUN Bucks and many have already received their one-time $120 benefit. Parents who think their child may be eligible for SUN Bucks should apply.

Important Notes for Families:

Check Your School’s Status: To determine whether your child’s school is a CEP school, please visit the 2024 CEP school list available at la/cep24. Alternatively, families can ask their child’s school directly or check for posted information on the school’s website.
Application Period: The application period opens on August 19, 2024, and will close on September 20, 2024. Families can apply online at https://louisiana.summerebtapp.com.
Card Issuance: Phase 3 recipients will receive new EBT cards mailed to the provided address on the application. Phase 2 cards are still being mailed out as Phase 3 begins. Recipients are advised to look out for plain white envelopes with an Erie, Pennsylvania, return address containing their SUN Bucks card and activation instructions. Envelopes will be addressed to the eligible child. Families with more than one child may receive their children’s cards at different times.
Benefit Usage: SUN Bucks can be used to purchase SNAP-eligible food items at stores that accept EBT cards. The benefits must be used within 122 days from the date of issuance.

For additional information or assistance with the application process, please contact the SUN Bucks helpline at 833-323-7482, email sunbucks@la.gov or visit sunbucks.la.gov.

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Louisiana

Three takeaways from LSU women’s basketball’s win over Louisiana Tech

Published

3 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Three takeaways from LSU women’s basketball’s win over Louisiana Tech

LSU women’s basketball started slow but recovered Saturday against Louisiana Tech, head coach Kim Mulkey’s alma mater. Inside New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center, the No. 5 Tigers won 87-61 to improve to 11-0.

Mikaylah Williams led the team with 19 points while Flau’Jae Johnson notched her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kate Koval and MiLaysia Fulwiley finished with 19 and 10 points, respectively. Jada Richard dished out a game-high eight assists.

Grace Knox, in the first start of her college career, scored four points as part of a 6-0 opening run for LSU, but three three-pointers put Louisiana Tech up with 7:19 on the clock. Back-and-forth play ensued, but the Lady Techsters led by two at the end of the first quarter. They hung around on the glass as well, limiting the Tigers to one and done most times.

LSU woke up in the second quarter and began imposing its physicality. Louisiana Tech didn’t score until the 5:34 mark and racked up fouls, including two on sharp-shooter Paris Bradley. The Tigers were in the bonus for over half of the second quarter but experienced a near-three-minute scoring drought, letting the Lady Techsters hang around. LSU led by nine points heading into the locker room. Both teams shot under 40% in the opening 20 minutes.

Louisiana Tech kept the game within reach for much of the third quarter but it eventually got away. LSU ended the frame on a 9-0 run and built a 20-point lead for good a minute into the fourth. Turnovers and mental mistakes piled up for the Lady Techsters, which gave the Tigers more chances to push the pace of play. The Tigers went on a 14-2 run over four minutes when substitutes started rolling in. They shot 58.6% in the second half.

LSU lacked success in transition

LSU relies on getting into track meets with opponents quickly to build a comfortable cushion. That didn’t happen Saturday as Louisiana Tech hit its shots to open the game. Even when the Lady Techsters missed, they were comfortable going one-and-done most times as they prioritized getting numbers back to defend. That’s how they kept the score close in the early goings.

In the first half, LSU scored just six points in transition and 11 points off turnovers. The Tigers stepped up on the defensive end in the second half. Even though they didn’t produce the fast break opportunities they’re used to, they were more patient on the offensive end and knocked down their open shots.

Koval, Joyner didn’t get enough touches

As in most of its nonconference games, LSU possesses a substantial size advantage inside. That was the case Saturday but the purple and gold struggled to get the ball inside to Koval and Joyner. When the pair had touches, they often either finished, kicked out for an open shot, or drew a foul. They combined for 21 points on 21 shots from the field and 10 free-throw attempts. LSU scored just 36 points in the paint over the entire game.

Likely driven by Mulkey’s comments at the break. LSU made a concerted effort to pounce on the ball inside. Koval scored over half of her points in the final two quarters. She easily worked with passes over the top of Louisiana Tech’s Averi Aaron and in the high-low when the Lady Techsters went to a zone. The Tigers need to learn from their lack of post play and use their advantage inside, especially as they prepare to play in the SEC.

Williams led LSU throughout the game

LSU struggled to find rhythm on both ends of the court in the early goings but Williams put the team on her back in the middle two frames. She scored 13 points, including two triples, on four of seven shots from the field. She added five rebounds and three assists over the same span.

Williams played a team-high 32 minutes on Saturday and she played all but two minutes in the first half. The junior displayed much-needed poise to an LSU team that couldn’t settle into the way it wanted to play initially. She also locked in on the defensive end, switching onto Bradley and locking her down for the back half of the contest. Her play in all facets gave the Tigers the confidence that they needed to pull ahead in the second half.

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Louisiana

Photos: LSU women defeats Louisiana Tech in the Smoothie King Center, 87-61

Published

15 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Photos: LSU women defeats Louisiana Tech in the Smoothie King Center, 87-61

Kramer Robertson, son of Kim Mulkey, New Orleans Pelicans and Saints owner Gayle Benson and Mayor-Elect Helena Moreno sit on the sidelines during the first half of a Compete 4 Cause Classic basketball game between the Louisiana State Tigers and the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune)

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Louisiana

Kim Mulkey set to lead LSU women into rare matchup with her alma mater Louisiana Tech

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Kim Mulkey set to lead LSU women into rare matchup with her alma mater Louisiana Tech

The opportunity to play a road game against Louisiana Tech has presented itself to coach Kim Mulkey before, but she has always turned it down.

Mulkey is willing to put the Lady Techsters on one of her nonconference schedules. She has already done so during her time at Baylor, and she did again ahead of this Tigers season. However, the LSU women’s basketball coach will never stage a game in Ruston — the small town in North Louisiana where she played her college hoops and launched her Hall-of-Fame coaching career.

“There’s too many emotions there,” Mulkey said. “There’s too many. I couldn’t walk in that gym and be a good coach.”

So, a neutral site will have to suffice instead. At 5 p.m. Saturday (ESPNU), the Smoothie King Center will host only the second matchup between one of Mulkey’s teams and her alma mater, Louisiana Tech. The No. 5 Tigers (10-0) and the Lady Techsters are set to meet in the Compete 4 Cause Classic — a doubleheader that also features a 7:30 p.m. men’s game between LSU and SMU.

Mulkey is a Louisiana Tech legend. She played point guard for the Lady Techsters from 1980-84, then worked as an assistant coach for the next 16 seasons. Tech reached the Final Four 11 times in the 19 total seasons Mulkey spent there and took home three national titles (in 1981, 1982 and 1988).

In December 2009, Mulkey’s Baylor team defeated the Lady Techsters 77-67 in Waco, Texas.

Mulkey hasn’t faced her alma mater since, not even after she left the Bears in 2021, so she could revive LSU’s women’s basketball program. The Tigers faced almost every other Louisiana school — from Grambling and UL-Monroe to McNeese and Tulane — in her first four seasons, but not the storied program that plays its home games about 200 miles north of Baton Rouge.

“The history of women’s basketball in this state doesn’t belong to LSU,” Mulkey said. “It belongs to Louisiana Tech. (The) Seimone Augustus era was outstanding. Our little five-year era here is outstanding, but when you take the cumulative history of women’s basketball in this state, go look at what Louisiana Tech was able to accomplish.”

The Lady Techsters were a national power under legendary coaches Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore. Hogg guided them to a pair of national championships and more than 300 wins across nine seasons, then turned the program over to Barmore, who led them to another national title and 11 30-win campaigns. Hogg and Barmore were co-head coaches from 1982-85.

Mulkey almost took over for Barmore in 2000. She had turned down head coaching offers before to stay in Ruston, but when it came time to choose between her alma mater and Baylor, she decided on coaching the Bears. Louisiana Tech, at the time, wouldn’t offer her the five-year deal — and the extra job security — she wanted.

Their paths then diverged. Mulkey won three national titles at Baylor and one at LSU, while Louisiana Tech hasn’t made it back to the Final Four. The Lady Techsters haven’t even advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 2004, and they’ve cracked that field of teams only twice in the last 20 seasons.

Mulkey, on the other hand, has spent those two decades chasing championships. The fifth of her head coaching career could come as soon as this season — a year that includes a rare matchup with the program that shaped her.

“I’ve been here five years now,” Mulkey said, “but your memories last forever, and the memories I have of my 19 years at Louisiana Tech will never dissolve.”

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