Overview
All federal Child Nutrition Programs require submission of a monthly claim to receive reimbursement. Federal reimbursement is provided for each meal that meets program requirements and is served to an eligible student. To obtain this reimbursement, school personnel must accurately count, record and claim the number of meals served to students by category, i.e., paid, reduced price, and free. Additionally, the number of meals served free and reduced price and claimed for reimbursement must have adequate documentation on file to support the claim.- Counting and Point of Service
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Meal counts are taken at the Point of Service (POS) for each participating site. The POS is the point in the meal service where it can be determined that a reimbursable meal has been taken.
- Claiming for Federal Programs
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Claims for reimbursement for meals or milk served under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Afterschool Snack Program (ASP), and Special Milk Program (SMP) must be submitted online to DPI for payment within 60 calendar days after the end of the claiming month. Only one claim per program is accepted per payment processing period. It is recommended that claims be submitted by the 15th of the month following the month of service.
Processing occurs each Tuesday morning, unless that day is a holiday, in which case the processing would happen the following day. The Online Services claiming portal is unavailable during payment processing. Payment processing does not occur in the last two weeks of June and the last two weeks of December so that DPI’s Business Office can do fiscal and year-end closeouts.
Online Learning
Claim Manuals
Edit Checks
Monthly, site-based edit checks are required to be completed before claim submission to compare meal count data to attendance-adjusted eligible student data.Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
The average daily attendance (ADA) must be calculated monthly for each site that participates in the NSLP. The ADA is the actual average daily attendance (students present in the building) for the school during the month. It is not the same as the enrollment or the number of students that participated in the programs. The following tool can assist with this calculation.Claim Adjustments
SFAs can submit a claim adjustment for inaccurate claims. For unpaid claims, claim adjustments can be made through Online Services. For paid claims, claim adjustments must be submitted as an electronic Excel claim template attachment and emailed to DPI accountant Jacqueline.Darrow@dpi.wi.gov. Refer to the claim manual for detailed instructions. Claim adjustments must be made no later than 90 days from the last day of the claiming month to be adjusted.Suspension of Claims Submission Online (Withholding)
SFAs whose online claiming rights have been temporarily suspended, cannot submit a claim through the Online Services claiming portal. While the agency is unable to submit claims(s) through Online Services, the monthly Excel claim template for each participating program must be emailed as an attachment to Jacqueline.Darrow@dpi.wi.gov. The claim must be received no later than 60 days from the last day of the claiming month to be eligible for payment (refer to the chart above for due dates).These claims will be held for payment until the outstanding issue(s) are resolved. Once the SFA is removed from claims withholding, online claiming rights will be restored to allow claims to be submitted through Online Services.Appeal Procedures
An SFA may appeal the denial of all or part of a claim for reimbursement or withholding of payment. The SFA must submit an appeal according to these Appeal Procedures for Child Nutrition Programs.One-time Exception for Late Claims
SFAs should allow ample time to submit claims to ensure there are no unforeseen issues with meeting a claim deadline. Claims not submitted within 60 days (refer to the charge above) cannot be paid with Federal funds unless an exception is granted.A one-time exception may be granted separately for School Meal Programs, Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and Summer Food Service Program once every 36 months.An exception is allowed for one National School Lunch Program and one School Breakfast Program, and for the Special Milk Program if requested for the same month. The School Breakfast Program includes the Regular School Breakfast or Severe Need School Breakfast or Seamless Summer Breakfast. The National School Lunch Program includes the National School Lunch Program or Non-area Eligible Afterschool Snack Program or Area Eligible Afterschool Snack Program or Seamless Summer Lunch. An exception for the Special Milk Program can also be granted separate of SBP and NSLP. An exception for any of these programs would count as the LEA's one-time exception for School Meal Programs.The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) includes Adult Day Care and Child Care, the At-Risk Afterschool Program and the Emergency Shelter Program. An exception for any of these programs would count as the agency's one-time exception for CACFP.SFAs that wish to utilize the one-time exception for a late claim must submit a corrective action plan and have it approved by the DPI Federal and State Grants Program. To request a one-time exception, submit the Excel claim template form for the claim month and a completed One-Time Exception Corrective Action Plan form to Federal & State Grants Accountant, Jacqueline Darrow at Jacqueline.Darrow@dpi.wi.gov. - Reimbursement Rates
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Annually, after July 1, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the School Nutrition Team (SNT) release meal, milk, and snack reimbursement rates. SFAs can use these rates to budget the amount of federal and state revenue earned per meal in addition to any local revenue.
- Claiming for State of Wisconsin Programs
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The Wisconsin School Day Milk Program and the Elderly Nutrition Program require submission of the annual claims. These are filed through Online Services and may be submitted after the last claiming day of the school year, no later than August 31.