Eligibility Traditional and Mixed Districts- Stay in Training Room with Katie Full CEP- Conference Room with Cindy McIntosh RCCI’s- Valerie’s Office with Ali McCreary Lunch Be back by 1:15

The Household Meal Application Process For the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs School Year

Objectives By the end of this presentation, you will be able to: Understand the Household Meal Application Process; Understand the Household Meal Application Approval Process; Understand how to determine your sample size for the Verification Process; and Understand the purpose of the Verification Process.

Getting Started Traditional Districts You may begin collecting and processing application as of July 1 st for the upcoming school year. Be sure to run July DC in the POS. Information letters to parents and applications can be sent home to all families. Cannot mandate that the application be returned. Direct Certification letters can be sent after July 1 st. Mixed Districts Follow all traditional procedures. You are NOT required to mail DC letters home to DC students in CEP schools. HIF forms will be collected through FRAM.

New Application: Let’s Take A Look Enter all children in the household, if they are a student, and if they are foster, Homeless, migrant, runaway. Case number (best practice is to check and see if student can be directly certified) A.Insert ALL child income B.Insert ALL Adult income (if left blank, it is a positive indication of NO INCOME) Enter total number of household members. Last four of SSN or checked for No SSN Signer and contact information

New Application: Let’s Take a Look Optional Information Internal Use Only Form

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How to Determine Eligibility To establish that a household meets income eligibility requirements for benefits, determining officials must compare the household income to the applicable Income Eligibility Guidelines. Use the Eligibility Manual for specific questions and guidance.

Processing Applications To be considered complete an application must contain the required information. The determining official must contact the household to complete the application. For an application to be considered complete it must contain: Name of all household members Amount, source, and frequency of current income for each member Signature of an Adult household member Last four digits of SSN or an indication that there is no SSN

Processing Applications: Time Frame Applications must be reviewed in a timely manner. A determination, notification and implementation must occur within 10 operating days of the receipt of the application. You cannot delay the approval of an application if the household fails to provide any optional information.

Independent Review of Applications In certain situations, a district may be asked to complete an “Independent Review of Applications” This process involves a second party reviewing the application prior to initial determination. The application would then have two signatures to verify that this process has been completed. You will be notified by SCN if you are selected for this. It is always a best practice to second party applications even without official selection.

Processing Applications: Income Income Received at the Same Intervals If there is only one source of income, or if all sources are received at the same frequency there is no need to convert to annual. Income Received at Different Intervals If there are multiple income sources with more than one frequency, the LEA must annualize the income. Best Practice Tip: If an application is within $100 of the IEG it is considered to be error-prone. Flag it!

Processing Applications: Case Numbers The determining official must assure that the Assistance Program case number or other identifier is valid. You are encouraged to review the direct certification list to determine whether any of the applications with case numbers can be matched with students on the DC list. Only the SNAP case number may be used, not the EBT card number.

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Approved Applications Households must be notified, either in writing or verbally of approval status. is acceptable. The Determining Official must sign or initial and date each application or date a cover sheet attached to a batch of applications.

Approved Applications: Documentation The determining official must maintain documentation in a format that includes: Approval date; Indicate the level of benefit for which each child is approved; and Sign or initial the application.

Denied Applications If the household provides an incomplete application or does not meet the eligibility criteria for free or reduced price benefits, the application must be denied. Written notification of denial can be provided by mail or to the adult signer of the application. The notification must contain: Reason for denial; Right to appeal; Instructions on how to appeal; and Ability to re-apply at any time during the school year.

Denied Applications: Documentation Determining Officials must record the eligibility determination and notification in a format that includes: -Denial date; -Reason for denial; -Date the denial notice was sent; and -Signature or initials of the determining official. Denial notices do not need to be sent for students who fail to reapply during the carryover period.

Duration of Eligibility Year Long Eligibility A child’s eligibility is in effect from the date of eligibility for the current school year until a new application is approved or denied or children are directly certified, up to 30 operating days into the subsequent school year. Carryover of Previous Year’s Eligibility The LEA must carryover eligibility and claim free or reduced price benefits served to: Children from households with approved applications on file from the previous year; Newly enrolled children from households with children who were approved for benefits in the LEA the previous year; Children from households directly certified for free benefits in the previous school year; Children in kindergarten who were enrolled in head start and under the jurisdiction of the same LEA during the previous school year; and Children previously approved who transferred from one school to another under the jurisdiction of the same LEA.

Verification of Applications The Verification process is a confirmation of eligibility for free and reduced price school meals. Verification is only required when eligibility is determined through the application process, not through direct certification conducted with an Assistance Program or with agencies or officials who documented Other Source Categorical Eligibility.

How to Establish the Number of Applications to Verify You will take the total number of applications you have on file as of October 1 st. You will then determine how many applications to select for verification based on which method you are approved to conduct. Standard- 3% of all (pick from error prone) Alternate 1- 3% of all Alternate 2- 1% of all (pick from error prone) and ½ of 1 percent of case number applications. You must randomly select your applications!

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Completion of Process You will notify the family of selection. Request Information to verify what the application states. Approve and Deny based on documentation More training to come on this process!

Questions? Thank you for your time. Please contact me if you have any questions! Katie Embree-Cleveland