Offer Versus Serve (OVS) Parent Notification
For sponsors that implement OVS for breakfast and/or lunch, parents should be notified of how this works. IDOE has letter templates to use in English and Spanish under the Notification Letters drop down. Additional outreach templates are available under Resources. OVS notification helps parents understand the different ways a reimbursable meal can be made and to guide their child to appropriate selections at meal time.
Open Office Hours
IDOE will host open office hours each Thursday afternoon for the next several weeks. The open session will allow for questions related to Direct Certification (DC), CNPweb program year (PY) 2024 application, and general free and reduced application questions. The open session is for questions and answers only and will not qualify for professional development training hours. Join us Thursday, August 3, at 2 p.m.
Crediting Resources Now Available in Spanish
The Crediting Fruits, Meats/Meat Alternates, and Milk in the Child Nutrition Programs tip sheets are now available in Spanish. Great resources for school lunch staff, these simple tip sheets highlight the basics of crediting for these three meal components across all Child Nutrition Programs. View the resources here.
Sponsor Number Login Ending
One year ago, IDOE moved to single-user login for CNPweb. With the change, sponsors designated a CNPweb administrator who has the ability to add users to CNPweb with the access of their choice. The sponsor number login will be shut off on Wednesday, August 16. Starting that date, the single user login must be used when accessing CNPweb. This login username format will be the sponsor number with an underscore and a unique username. For example, 0009_jdoe or similar.
If you do not have single user access, please contact your local CNPweb administrator. If you have additional issues, please use the CNPweb help form.
USDA Foods Beginning of Year Reminders
In case you missed the live training, here’s the recorded version: USDA Foods Beginning of Year Reminders.
Disasters, Holds, and Recalls
Ever wonder what to do during a USDA Foods recall? IDOE has developed training materials to answer these questions.
K12 Foodservice and ProcessorLink Training
Schools that allocated pounds to processors are required to monitor and manage those pounds for proper inventory management. IDOE is hosting a training for each commodity tracking website. Learn how to monitor and manage processor pounds, select distributors, run reports and review months on hand.
Annual Financial Report (AFR) Webinars
AFR walk-through webinars will be hosted in August. Each webinar will show sponsors how to complete the 2023 AFR and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions. All webinar presentations will be the same so sponsors can choose only one session.
Free and Reduced Webinar Series
Calling all free and reduced processors! Join IDOE for an application and direct certification webinar series. Each training session will credit toward professional development training hours and fulfill the training requirement for application processors.
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DC Basics- Learn about upgrades to the system for PY 2024 and how to pull and read reports.
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Application Processing- Walk through how to identify a completed application and the steps of the approval process.
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Verification for Cause- Learn how to select applications to verify for cause and basic steps through the process.
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DC- Processing Possible Matches- Review the necessary steps to ensure the possible match student is correct.
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Eligibility Disclosure- Learn when free and reduced eligibility can be disclosed to groups outside of food services for purposes other than meal benefits along with tips and tricks to ensuring the information is used as intended.
Registration links for the training series can be found on IDOE's Training webpage.
CNPweb Program Year (PY) 2024 is Now Open
School Nutrition Programs (SNP) PY 2024 is now open within CNPweb. Sponsors can run DC and begin the PY 2024 application.
SNP Application
Sponsors should start with the Sponsor and Site Information sheets prior to moving to the Checklist tab. Complete instructions for the application can be found on the CNPweb announcement page and under the Help tab across the top purple ribbon. Some important reminders/changes:
- All sponsors must update the permanent agreement. The agreement must be reviewed and signed by the sponsor’s Executive Contact (listed on the Sponsor Info Sheet in CNPweb). A digital signature can be accepted for the agreement. The school-appointed food service director may not sign this document.
- Sponsors will be required to meet the annual training requirement for Civil Rights and Ethics. Please review those training modules in Moodle.
- Each sponsor’s school-appointed Food Service Director must take the Ethics course for the new school year and upload the newest certificate into the CNPweb checklist.
- If your school charges students for meals and the paid lunch price is less than $3.56, you must have completed the Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) Tool or have been approved for a PLE Exemption.
- Errors in the system currently undergoing fixes include:
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Date Food Service Director obtained Food Safety Certification under the FSMC/Vendor/Food Service Contractor section will error, even if the sponsor selected they do not have a FSMC or Vended Meals Contract. Enter the same date that was entered in the Food Service Director - hired by the SFA section.
- Sponsors that are not audited by the Indiana State Board of Accounts and expended more than $750,000 in the last complete fiscal year should be seeing a new section between OMB Single Audit Compliance and Certification Statement. This is not currently populated. These sponsors should continue with the application process and wait until a fix has been implemented to finalize the Sponsor Info Sheet.
Sponsors will continue to be updated on any issues or changes to the CNPweb system. If you have any questions please submit within the CNPweb Help Form.
Direct Certification
- Ensure the browser pop-up blocker is turned off. The DC spreadsheets will not populate if the blocker is on.
- If you receive an error message when downloading under Review New Matches, go to DC Download History, sort by All Sites, and download all of the files labeled All Sites.
- For updated instructions related to DC, review the DC webpage, review modules on Moodle, or attend an upcoming DC webinar.
- Issues with DC can be submitted to the DC Help Form.
Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition (CICN) Getting Started with Scratch Cooking Webinar
Scratch cooking in school nutrition programs doesn't have to be all or nothing. You may decide to prepare certain signature menu items from scratch, while other menu items are more suited to speed-scratch preparation. If you have been thinking about scratch cooking in your program but you don't know where to start, our guest presenters can help. We will be joined by school nutrition experts Bertrand Weber, Director of Culinary and Wellness Services at Minneapolis Public Schools, and Chef Brandy Dreibelbis, Executive Director of Culinary at the Chef Ann Foundation on Thursday, August 3, at 3 p.m. Register here.
Medicaid Renewal Reminder from Managed Health Services (MHS)
Indiana Medicaid provides health insurance for low-income children, adults, seniors, pregnant people, and people with disabilities. Medicaid covers one in three Hoosiers—more than two million people in Indiana! Everyone with Medicaid will need to renew their coverage in the coming year. This did not happen the last three years.
Anyone covered by Indiana Medicaid should make sure the Indiana Family and Social Service Administration (FSSA) has their correct address. They can update their information on the benefits portal or by calling 800-403-0864. It is also important that they open and respond to all mail from FSSA and their health plan (Anthem, CareSource, MDwise, MHS, or United Healthcare).
Insurance can be confusing, but free, unbiased help is available from Indiana Certified Navigators. Find a navigator near you.
For questions, reach out directly to Elizabeth Sons, MHS School Based Service Administrator and Chair of the Indiana Healthy Schools Action Team.
Upcoming Dates |
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Thursday, August 3, at 2 p.m.
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IDOE Open Office Hours
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Thursday, August 3, at 3 p.m. ET
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CICN Getting Started with Scratch Cooking webinar. Register here.
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Tuesday, August 8, at 1 p.m. ET
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AFR walk-through webinar. Register here.
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Tuesday, August 15, from 10 to 11 a.m. ET
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K12 Foodservice training
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Thursday, August 17, at 10 a.m. ET
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AFR walk-through webinar. Register here.
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Tuesday, August 22, at 1 p.m. ET
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AFR walk-through webinar. Register here.
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Wednesday, August 23, from 11 a.m. to noon ET
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ProcessorLink training
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Friday, September 1
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Annual Financial Report (AFR) due
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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