massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education 1 welcome to the new director’s...

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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WELCOME TO THE NEW DIRECTOR’S TRAINING

National School Lunch Program Requirements For Public And Private Schools

New Director’s Training

Cynthia Sarapas

August 13, 2013


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TOPICS

Meal Benefit and Issuance Process

Direct Certification

Homeless Liaison


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Meal Benefit &

Issuance Process


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Free & Reduced Price Policy Statement

Update as part of the annual renewal application

Identify the determining, confirming, and hearing officials

Hearing official must not be connected to the approval or verification process


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Prior Year Eligibility Carry Over

LEAs must carryover all student's approved eligibility from the last operating day of the previous school year

Approval may be used for up to 30 operating days from the first day of school

Applies to direct certification, categorical eligibility determinations and income based applications

New eligibility determination will supersede the carryover eligibility once it is obtained from the household


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Carry over approval is valid…

A. Until October 1

B. For 30 operating days from beginning of school

C. For 30 calendar days from beginning of school


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Direct Certification

Process Direct Certification via the Virtual Gateway

Access must be done a minimum of 3 times per school year:

Start of school: do weekly at start of school (recommended)

3 months after school starts

6 months after schools starts

Direct certification supersedes any application a household submits: eligibility remains free for school year if exact match with the Virtual Gateway process. Partial Match requires further checking using student identification numbers.


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Extending Categorical Eligibility to Additional Children In A

Household

Extended eligibility means that all children in the household are categorically eligible for free meals if any child in the household is directly certified

Household is defined as a group of related or unrelated individuals living together as an economic unit


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Direct Certification Notification

All households that have children who are identified as eligible for benefits via direct certification must receive a letter notifying them of the meal benefit to be provided

Refer to the eligibility manual for the list of items that must be included in the notification letter

Prototype letter posted on ESE website and the security portal


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When must a letter be sent to notify a household that the children

residing there have qualified for meal benefits via direct certification?

A. If you don’t see a family member on the playground

B. If the student says he forgot to tell his family

C. When a student is identified as Directly Certified


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If there are three siblings in a household and only two of the children have been directly certified is the third child automatically eligible?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Depends on the child’s age


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Homeless Liaison Contact district homeless liaison to receive list

of all homeless and runaway students within the district

Establish an ongoing working relationship

Be notified whenever a student is identified

Find your district’s Homeless Liaison at http://www.doe.mass.edu/mv/


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Foster Children Foster children are categorically eligible for free meals, no

application is needed

Foster children must be in the care and placement of the State or placed by a court

LEA must obtain documentation from an appropriate State or local agency indicating the status of the child as a foster child

We strongly encourage school food authorities and other child nutrition institutions to establish formal mechanisms with State and local foster agencies to receive information directly from these agencies to facilitate certification for free meals for foster children


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Meal Benefit Packet Download forms, letters, and instructions from the

ESE website or the Document Library

Use the current Massachusetts meal benefit form

Meal benefit forms are available in other languages on USDA’s website

Households cannot be required to complete and return the application


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MASSACHUSETTS FREE AND REDUCED PRICE

SCHOOL MEALS HOUSEHOLD APPLICATION

( One application per household)


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• Direct Certification: No application needed

• Extended eligibility: means that all children in the household are categorically eligible for

free meals if any child in the household is directly certified


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• List the names of all household members

• Indicate name of school for each child

• CHECK IF A FOSTER CHILD: Foster children are categorically eligible for free status: no application needed. May include them in household size.

• Check if no income


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Part 2: If an LEA receives an application listing a SNAP or TAFDC agency ID number for any member of the household, then all children in the household are categorically eligible for free meals

•Agency ID Number:7-9 digits

(NOT:60004323345)

•Part 3: Homeless, migrant, or runaway

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List household members with income in this section only

You must tell how much and check box how often (ie:weekly, monthly, every other week, etc.)

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• An adult household member must sign the application

• If part 4 is completed, the adult signing the form must list last 4 digits of their social security number or mark “I do not have a social security number”


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Part 6: Optional

This Is For School Use Only section: The LEA fills in this section completely. LEA must use the annual income conversion figures if an application is listing income from more than one frequency (i.e.: weekly and monthly). Please note dual eligibility for foster children vs. non-foster children in same household.


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Annual Income Conversion Example

On the application if the father in the household listed his

income to be $500.00 weekly and the mother in the household listed her income to be $ 400.00 every 2 weeks:

This income must be converted to yearly for both father and mother

Calculation of yearly income for household:

$ 500.00 X 52 = $26,000.00 per year$ 400.00 X 26 = $10,400.00 per year

$36,400.00 per year for household


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Annual Income Conversion Example Continued

Clarification of frequency terms:

Bi-weekly means pay period is every other week or every two weeks with the conversion factor X 26

Twice A Month: pay period is twice each month and the conversion factor X 24


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Meal Benefit Form School Use Only Section Continued

Record total income, household size, eligibility, etc.

All applications must be determined and

implemented within 10 working days of receipt of application by the determining official

All applications must be edit checked, signed, and dated by the determining and confirming official

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The current reduced income guidelines must be on the application yearly as well as the Use of Information and Non-discrimination Statement


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Tips for Application Success

Send home the complete application

Add a cover page highlighting key areas

Work with Administration

Open House or Family night

Train staff who will be processing applications


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More Application Tips Remember to include a phone number that allows

parent/guardian to call the school regarding application issues at no charge to themselves

If district does not have a toll free number the application letter must state that the parent/guardian may call collect

Only the reduced price income guidelines go on the application


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Complete Applications Check that applications are complete

Only complete applications may be processed

If an application is not complete, contact the household: initial, date, who spoke to, record information missing on application

Refer to eligibility manual for complete instructions on determining if a submitted application is complete: August 2012 is most current.


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Determining & Confirming Applications

All application determinations must be made within 10 working days of receipt of application by the determining official

All applications that are approved or denied must be confirmed by the confirming official

The confirming official must edit check all determinations – do not just sign the applications

POS system may be either the determining or confirming – not both; data entry must be edit checked for accuracy


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Hardship Circumstances Hardship circumstances vs. eligibility

determination: if a household does not qualify for free or reduced benefits determined from a meal benefit application the district may choose to allow the student to eat at no cost

HOWEVER, the district must absorb the cost of

the school meals served to these students. The school lunch program funds can not be used to pay this expense. These meals must be claimed at the paid rate on the claim for reimbursement


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School Lunch Charges Debt incurred when a student is allowed to

charge a school meal must be paid by the student

Funds from the non-profit school food service account can not be used to cover the cost of charged meals that have not been paid

All school lunch programs must have a written school lunch charge policy in place


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After the determining official finishes with an application what happens next?

A. Confirming official signs and dates application

B. Confirming official signs, dates, and edit checks application

C. Confirming official edit checks, signs, and dates application


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If an application is denied due to over income can school officials change the eligibility determination due to hardship?

A. Yes

B. No

C. It Depends


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Notification of Eligibility Determination

All households must be notified of their eligibility status

Households with children that are denied benefits must be

given written notification that includes the reason for denial, right to appeal, instructions on how to appeal, and a statement informing that they may re-apply at any time during the school year

Households with children who are approved for benefits may

be notified with a letter or email


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Elimination of Temporary Approval / Zero Income

Temporary approval of an application is no longer applicable because of the year long duration of eligibility provision.

If LEA/ schools are concerned with the authenticity of the information provided on an application, they may, on a case by case basis verify the application for cause. (Refer to pg. 22 of the Eligibility Manual For School Meals August 2012)


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Benefit Eligibility Issuance List

A list of all children eligible for free, reduced, or paid meals must be compiled by school site

Each school must have a copy of their list

The LEA must ensure that any changes and transfers in and out of the school are accurately and promptly reflected on each school's list

Best practice – coded list at each point of service meal counting area – with no overt identification


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Why is it best practice to have a benefit issuance list at each meal counting point of service?

A. So we can print t-shirts with F, R, and P’s on them

B. In case the point of sale system or cash register malfunctions

C. We don’t need a list, the children yell out their eligibility when they come through the line


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Time to play “Who Wants A Meal Benefit”


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Important Web Sites

www.doe.mass.edu

www.doe.mass.edu/mv/

www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/

www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/guidance/EliMan.pdf

Information for this presentation was taken from The Eligibility Manual for School Meals and Meal Counting and Claiming Manual

Published by: Child Nutrition Programs, Food and Nutrition Services United States Department of Agriculture

http://www.doe.mass.edu/

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/


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THANK YOUGOODLUCK!!!

massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education 1 welcome to the new director’s...

Documents

secondary education

day of school

school c

start of school

household extended eligibility

carryover eligibility

eligibility manual

prior year eligibility