BATON ROUGE - Families of children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals will get extra money to help cover food costs over the summer, the Department of Children and Family Services announced Monday.

In most cases, children will be automatically enrolled for the one-time $120 supplement, said Sammy Guillory, assistant secretary for family support at DCFS.

Last year, 1,500 children were determined to be eligible via the application process. The rest of the nearly 670,000 children who got the benefit were automatically enrolled.

Louisiana families received more than $80 million last summer.

To be eligible for the benefit, children born between August 8, 2006 and July 1, 2019 must receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called SNAP; Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program, called FITAP; Kinship Care Subsidy Program, called KCSP, or an income-based Medicaid program.

Students individually approved for free or reduced-price school meals through the National School Lunch Program also are eligible, a news release from DCFS said.

Some students who don't participate in any of those programs may still be eligible, and parents can apply at https://louisiana.summerebtapp.com.

The money will be added to EBT or SUN Bucks cards, so families that have lost or discarded cards should call 1-888-997-1117 to request replacements.

The one-time benefits will be distributed beginning in mid-May and will continue during the summer months. They must be used within 122 days of when they are issued. When they expire, they cannot be replaced, the news release said.

More information about the program is available at sunbucks.la.gov.