Program Promotion
School food authorities (SFAs) are most successful when the school nutrition program is marketed to students. IDOE created several marketing/promotional suggestions. SFAs can copy or download the images for use in local program promotion. There is a list of available resources, general promotions, as well as monthly suggestions. Review the available resources here.
Traditional Verification Starts Sunday, October 1
The traditional verification period begins next week. Verification samples are based on the number of approved applications on file as of October 1 each year. Sponsors with a 20% or higher non-response rate in the previous year are required to conduct Standard (Error-Prone) verification. Review the verification method spreadsheet and find your school if unsure of which method to use. Sponsors that are able to choose any method can choose any of the three options including error-prone.
If you missed the webinars regarding verification last week, you can find the slides for the Verification Methods presentation here and the Verification Preparation webinar here.
Direct Verification will be available again this year and has moved to CNPweb. Join us tomorrow, Thursday, September 28, at 10 a.m. ET for an introduction of the new process. Register here
*Sponsors that operate the Community Eligibility Provision corporation-wide and Residential Child Care Institutions that do not have day students are exempt from verification.
Farm to School Month
Next week marks the start of October, which means it’s Farm to School Month. Farm to School is an important initiative that promotes building connections in the cafeteria and classroom to local producers and foods. Indiana has so much to offer our schools agriculturally, and we are proud to showcase that all month long! Celebrate farm to school month with Indiana Apple Crunch highlighting local apples or through Indiana Food Day, which is highlighting local proteins this year. With Farm to School, students win, farmers win, and the community wins! Visit the Farm to School webpage or contact us at f2s@doe.in.gov with any questions.
National School Lunch Week (NSLW)
2023 NSLW is Monday, October 9, through Friday, October 13. This year’s theme is Level Up with School Lunch. The School Nutrition Association has fun NSLW resources to help you celebrate!
IDOE will ask for photos for an Indiana scrapbook after the week is over, so don’t forget to take photos of your celebrations! Make sure if there are any identifiable pictures of students that you have received signed media releases from their families.
USDA Foods: Forecasting for the Future - A Panel Discussion
IDOE will host a virtual panel discussion and training session on forecasting USDA Foods. Join us Tuesday, October 3, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. ET. Panelists will discuss topics ranging from entitlement, utilizing USDA Foods tools and calculators to determining processor pounds. Registration is required for this event. Click here to register.
Introducing Food Distribution Program (FDP) 2.0
What is it? FDP 2.0 is new program that will replace FDP software in CNPweb.
Who will use it? Schools, warehouses, and IDOE will use for the 2024-2025 school year.
When? The first phase of FDP 2.0 will be rolled out in December 2023 for school sponsors to complete the annual pre-order (forecast) survey in early 2024.
Why? The current FDP system will be retired for a more user friendly and updated system.
There will be more information forthcoming on access, logins, training and rollout phases in future newsletters.
We Want to Hear from You!
Although school is just beginning, we want to know which USDA Foods your school would like to see on the school year 2024-2025 annual pre-order (forecast) survey. The annual pre-order survey will open in early 2024. Please take a moment to complete the USDA Foods Wishlist Survey. If we receive enough interest, we may add these items to the survey. The deadline to provide your feedback is Friday, September 29.
Verification Webinar Series
Join IDOE for verification training. Each session will review specific parts of the traditional verification process.
Direct Verification
Available again this year, the Direct Verification feature will open up within CNPweb. Please attend this webinar before using the feature to learn the best practices for utilizing this part of the verification process.
Processing Verification Information
This webinar will go over the steps for processing the information submitted by households as proof of income.
Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) Funds Rounds Two and Three Remaining Distributions and Upcoming Round Four
For those who applied, SCA remaining funds for rounds two and three have been disbursed and should appear under the payments tab in CNPweb. The comments listed in the ACH deposit notification will be SC2_2 for the round two disbursement and SC3_2 for round three. The deposits should be within a few days of one another. Please remember all SCA Funds must be deposited into the School Foodservice Account (0800) and used specifically for the purchase of food as described in the SCA Funds Q&A.
Receive an unexpected payment?
View the Payments tab (next to the Claims tab), find the amount that was paid, and then click the arrow (>) to the far left under Batch Number. The description of the payment will identify what items are included in the payment amount. Additionally, if the payment is less than expected, the description will show deductions, such as USDA Foods storage fees. All supply chain funds show under the Other column on the payments tab (see screenshot below). If there is not payment information in PY 2024, check the PY 2023 payments tab.
SCA funds for round four will be announced later this fall. Please watch for the announcement and details in the weekly newsletter. For additional guidance for school with FSMCs click here. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact scnfinance@doe.in.gov and include SCA and your sponsor number in the subject line.
Upcoming Dates |
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Thursday, September 28, at 10 a.m. ET
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Direct verification webinar. Register here.
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Thursday, September 28, at 2 p.m. ET
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Using Local Proteins in Child Nutrition Recipes webinar. Register here.
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Friday, September 29
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July claims due date
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Sunday, October 1
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Traditional Verification begins
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Tuesday, October 3, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
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USDA Foods: Forecasting for the Future - A Panel Discussion. Register here.
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Monday, October 9, through Friday, October 13
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National School Lunch Week
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Tuesday, October 10, at 3 p.m. ET
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Processing verification information webinar. Register here.
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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