Michigan Department of Education Office of School Support Services School Nutrition Programs Steps to Complete Verification

Michigan Department of Education

Office of School Support Services

School Nutrition Programs

Steps to Complete Verification

Verification is the process School Food Authorities (SFAs) conduct annually to confirm selected students’ eligibility for free and reduced price meals in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

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  Schools Required to Conduct an Independent Review of Applications for School Year (SY) 2016-2017
  
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  Information for The Independent Review of Applications
  
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  Administrative Policy No. 15 Independent Review of Applications SY 2016-2017
  

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  Schools Required to Submit an Improvement Plan for Certification and Verification for SY 2016-2017
  
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  If the SFA is on the list required to submit an Improvement Plan, use the following documents:
  
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    Requirements for an Improvement Plan for Certification and Verification
    

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  Improvement Plan for Certification and Verification
  

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  Schools Required to use Standard Sample Size for SY 2016-2017
  
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    Standard Sample Size
    
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  If the SFA is not on the list for Standard Sample Size, one of the two alternate methods may be selected.
  
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    Alternative One Sample Size (Random Sampling)
    
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    Alternative Two (Error Prone Sampling)
    

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  Only approved current school year applications as of October 1 must make up the pool.
  
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  The following students should not be included in the application pool:
  

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  Children approved through direct certification procedures such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), and foster children.
  
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  Children directly certified through other programs, including children that are documented as eligible migrant, runaway, homeless, or foster children.
  
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  Children participating in Head Start or Pre-K Even Start.
  

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  Follow the instructions on the sampling method information sheet(s) in Step 3.
  
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  Round up decimals to the nearest whole number.
  

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  Document on the back of the original application the date of the Confirmation Review.
  

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  Use the We Must Check Your Application form.
  
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  Give the households a due date.
  

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  Send the prototype letter below to contact the local Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to verify benefits.
  

Letter to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services from the Local Educational Agency

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  Review the household’s official letter from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services as verification of benefits. However, the SFA verifying official must check to make sure the household is receiving TANF, SNAP, or FDPIR benefits.
  

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  Document on the back of the original application the date of when the Follow-up Review was conducted.
  

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  Use the We Have Checked Your Application form.
  
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  Households must be given 10 day advance, written notification that benefits will be decreased.
  
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  The first day of the ten calendar day advance notice is the day the notice is sent.
  

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  Wait until the 10 day advance notification period has passed.
  

Step 12 - All SFAs must report verification activities and outcomes to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) annually. The results of verification are reported in the School Food Authority Verification Collection Report (SFA-VCR). The web-based report can be accessed through the Michigan Nutrition Data System (MiND) at: Michigan Nutrition Data System.

The verification results reporting will open in December 2016. The target date for opening the SFA-VCR is December 12, 2016. The SFA-VCR must be submitted to MDE via the Michigan Nutrition Data System (MiND) Michigan Nutrition Data System by February 1, 2017.

If your SFA needs to designate a new individual to complete