Community Eligibility Provision: Tips to Maximize Your ISP Lisa Finkenbinder, RD School Lunch Director City School District of Albany

 Identified Student Percentage  Number of students certified for free meals by a means other than a household application, compared to total LEA/group of schools/individual school enrollment as of April 1 st data What is the ISP?

 SNAP recipients identified through direct certification  Medicaid recipients identified through direct certification  Eligibility Letter for Free Meals/Milk (submitted by family)  Extension of Eligibility  Homeless List from Liaison  Head Start / Pre-K Evenstart  Migrant Youth  Runaways  Foster Children certified directly by the State or local foster agency Means of Certification

 Direct Certification List  Scour, Search and Investigate! Leave no stone unturned.  Import into your POS system but don’t stop there.  Line by line, student by student look for:  2 last names: with or without hyphen  Apostrophes  Transposed letters  Birthdates  SNAP takes precedence How to Maximize Your ISP

 Eligibility Letters  Check ALL students listed  Forward to other schools  Extension of Eligibility  To siblings AND household members of SNAP, Medicaid and Letter Recipients  Search by household number (or other common identifier in POS system) How to Maximize Your ISP

 Homeless  Know your liaison  Request periodic updates (monthly is ideal)  Migrant/Runaways/Foster Children  Know your guidance counselors, social workers, Assistant Principals, etc  Make sure registration personnel know you  Head Start/Pre-K Evenstart How to Maximize Your ISP

 Talk to your students  Those without an application on file  At the end of the new school year 30 day grace period  Those that were free in previous years  Those that “charge” often, high balances, multiple trips through the lunch line, using other students pin #’s How to Maximize Your ISP

 Reimbursement  District A has 9000 students, serves 6000 lunches per day and has an ISP of 62.5% yielding 100% reimbursement at the free rate.  District B has 9000 students, serves 6000 lunches per day and has an ISP of 60% yielding 96% reimbursement at the free rate, 4% at the paid rate  240 meals per day are claimed at the different rate. District A is reimbursed $ per day, District B is reimbursed $ per day for those same 240 meals.  District A identified and additional 225 students directly data matched for free meals Why Maximize?

 Equity and equality  In a building, neighborhood or district  Are PRICELESS! Why Maximize?