We're trying something new in the knowledge base. Please give us your feedback!
Tool Search: Eligibility
The Eligibility tool shows a student's eligibility for free or reduced-price benefits. The USDA Food and Nutritional Services agency requires districts to track student eligibility for federal reimbursement.
If no eligibility records are shown in the Eligibility Editor, the student has a default Eligibility value of Paid and an Eligibility Type of Meal.
When adding a new eligibility, do not overwrite existing eligibilities. Overlapping Start/End Dates are not allowed; therefore, the previous Eligibility automatically adjusts to end before the new Eligibility begins.
Point-of-Sale users only: If a student's eligibility changes, existing transactions for those students will NOT be updated. If transactions exist with an Eligibility that has been edited or overwritten, a district staff member must manually modify those transactions in the student's account Journal.
Click New in the action bar.
Select the School Year to which the Eligibility should apply.
Enter or select a Start Date.
The End Date will be set to the Default Expiration Date set in FRAM Preferences, based on Eligibility Carryover. Change if needed.
More about Eligibility Carryover
Click here to expand...
Carryover refers to a child’s eligibility from the previous school year being carried over into the current or new school year. A child’s eligibility from the previous school year (before July 1) carries over for up to 30 operating days into the new school year or until a new eligibility determination is made, whichever comes first. The 30 operating days begins on the first operating day of school. Operating days are the days on which reimbursable meals or milk are provided by a school or another program sponsor. Carryover applies to eligibility established through a household application or through direct certification. Meals served during the carryover period are claimed at the appropriate rate, depending on the individual child’s eligibility status from the previous school year. Carryover allows children to continue receiving school meal benefits while families complete and submit their application for the school to process.
When children from schools participating in a Special Provision (i.e., Provision 1, 2, or 3 or CEP) move to a non-provision school, at the State agency’s discretion, you may carry over children’s eligibility for free reimbursable meals for up to 30 operating days or until a new eligibility determination is made
Select the Eligibility Type and Eligibility.
Reference: Eligibility Editor Field Descriptions
Click here to expand...
Eligibility Editor Field Descriptions
Field
Definition
School Year
The school year for which the Eligibility applies.
Start Date
The first day on which the Eligibility is active.
End Date
The last day on which the Eligibility is active. The eligibility End Date field indicates the last date on which the student is eligible for the eligibility, generally 30 days into the next school year.
If a Default Expiration Date is set for the School Year under FRAM > FRAM Preferences > Application Preferences, the date entered in this field will automatically populate when the School Year is selected for manual entries. Users may manually edit the End Date value as necessary.
After an existing eligibility expires (i.e., the day after the End Date), the student's eligibility will automatically default to a "Paid" eligibility.
Eligibility Type
Indicates the type of eligibility. The Eligibility Type determines what department created and will use the Eligibility record within the district.
Meal - Indicates the record is a meal status eligibility record. This Eligibility Type is utilized by the Food Service Department and for state reporting data.
SES - Indicates the record is a socioeconomic status eligibility record. This eligibility type is utilized for students participating in Provision programs. This Eligibility Type is utilized by other departments within the district, including state reporting. This type will never message to a Point of Sale terminal.
If the district is using Campus FRAM for processing applications and/or Campus Point of Sale it is recommended to keep the default setting of Meal. Eligibilities assigned an Eligibility Type of SES are used by Provision participating schools to track eligibilities for state reporting purposes as well as additional benefits within the district. SES eligibility types do not message to the Point of Sale and are considered a "Paid" eligibility by the Food Service Department.
Eligibility
This field indicates the eligibility status of the student:
Free - The student is eligible to receive reimbursable meals at no charge.
Paid - The student is not considered eligible and must pay the student price for reimbursable meals.
Reduced - The student is considered eligible and must pay a reduced price for reimbursable meals.
Non-reimbursable—This option is never assigned or populated as an eligibility for students. It is used to process second (non-reimbursable) meals for students and an adult (non-reimbursable) meal status for adults/staff. This status is not necessary to be assigned to staff members.
Source
This field indicates whether the eligibility status was identified through Non-Direct or Direct Certification. Direct Certification indicates that the student qualifies for free/reduced meals due to Direct Certification files received from a state agency certifying that the child is a member of a SNAP, FDPIR, or TANF household or the student is a foster child directly certified from the state. This Certified Type is allowed only when the Eligibility Type is Meal. The Eligibility should be Free.
Certified Type
The determination reason for the value displayed in the Eligibility field. The options in this dropdown list display according to the Source selected. See the following Certified Type table for more information.
Application Name
The name of the household or the name of the application's signer (per the setting of the Auto Fill Application Name field of the FRAM Preferences) on the Educational or Meal Benefits Application processed. This field cannot be edited.
Only eligibilities auto-populated from the Educational or Meal Benefits Application will have a value auto-populated in this field. When Online Meal Benefits Applications is enabled, this field will display the Signer's Name.
Reference Number
The number of the Educational and Meal Benefits application is for reference purposes.
Only eligibilities populated via an Educational or Meal Benefits Application will have a value in this field.
Letter Method
This checkbox indicates that the manually entered eligibility was the result of a Direct Certification, AND the district received a certification letter from one of the following sources:
The district received a certification letter from the state.
The district received a state certification letter from a family.
The district received a certification letter from another district for the current year.
This checkbox only displays if you select a DirectSource and FreeEligibility.
Extended
When this checkbox is marked, it indicates that the eligibility results from a family member's eligibility being extended to this student.
This checkbox only displays if you select a DirectSource.
State Qualified as Free
Marking this checkbox indicates the student is not eligible at the Federal level but qualifies as free at the state level.
This option is only available in New Jersey.
Opt Out Medicaid
If this box is marked, the guardian has indicated they do NOT wish to be contacted by Medicaid regarding Medicaid benefits.
This option will only display if the Display Medicaid Opt Out checkbox of the FRAM Application Preferences is marked.
Opt Out SCHIP
If this box is marked, the guardian has indicated they do NOT wish to be contacted by SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) regarding insurance benefits.
This option will only display if the Display SCHIP Opt Out checkbox of the FRAM Application Preferences is marked.
Permission Name
The name of the permission. Permissions may be created by the district or may be for sharing eligbility with other components of Campus, such as the School Store.
This section is only available if Permissions have been created or enabled within the Permission Preferences tab.
Share Permission
This indicates whether or not the parent/guardian allows the district permission to share their child(ren)'s free/reduced eligibility with other district staff members.
This section is only available if Permissions have been created or enabled within the Permission Preferences.
State Eligibility Code
This data is used for state reporting only.
Select the Source and Certified Type for the student.
Reference: Certified Type Options
Click here to expand...
Certified Types
Certified Type
Description
Income
Type of approval based on household income. The Eligibility can be Free, Reduced, or Paid.
Categorical
Type of benefit based on participation in federal programs such as SNAP/FDPIR/TANF. The Eligibility should be Free.
A child is also categorically eligible if the child is
enrolled in a Head Start or Even Start Program, or
a homeless child as determined by the school district’s homeless liaison or by the director of a homeless shelter, or
a migrant child as determined by the state or local Migrant Education Program coordinator, or
a runaway child who is receiving assistance from a program under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and is identified by the local educational liaison.
Override
Type of approval based on the district selecting to override the assigned Eligibility for a student on a Meal Benefits Application.
Runaway
The type of approval is based on confirmation of the student's runaway status. The Eligibility should be Free.
If the certified type is Non-Direct, then confirmation is received from the district runaway coordinator.
If the certified type is Direct, then confirmation is received from a direct certification file.
Homeless
Type of approval based on confirmation approving the student's homeless status. The Eligibility should be Free.
If the certified type is Non-Direct, then confirmation is received from the district homeless coordinator.
If the certified type is Direct, then confirmation is received from a direct certification file.
Foster
Type of approval based on confirmation approving the student's foster status where the child is living in a foster home or another type of facility which deems the student as foster. The Eligibility should be Free.
If the certified type is Non-Direct, then confirmation is received from the district foster coordinator.
If the certified type is Direct, then confirmation is received from a direct certification file.
Migrant
Type of approval based on confirmation approving the student's migrant status.
If the certified type is Non-Direct, then confirmation is received from the district migrant coordinator.
If the certified type is Direct, then confirmation is received from a direct certification file.
Even Start
Type of approval based on the student participating in the Federally-funded Even Start Family Literacy Program for preschool/pre-kindergarten children.
Head Start
Type of approval based on the student being enrolled as a participant in a Head Start program.
If the certified type is Non-Direct, then confirmation is received from the district Head Start coordinator.
If the certified type is Direct, then confirmation is received from a direct certification file.
RCCI
Type of approval based on the student attending a residential child care institution (RCCI) that participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program (SBP).
Early Childhood
The Local Education Agency (LEA) can use this designation if the LEA is participating in a CAACFP program.
Medicaid
Type of approval based on the household receiving Medicaid benefits.
If the certified type is Non-Direct, then confirmation is received from any method EXCEPT from a Direct Certification file or source. The student's eligibility will be Free.
If the certified type is Direct, then confirmation is received from a direct certification file.
Declined
This status is used to track households who decline free/reduced eligibility benefits. This status is collected in some state's for state reporting data.
Denied
This status is used to track households who are denied free/reduced eligibility benefits. This status is collected in some state's for state reporting data.
Did Not Apply
This status is used to track households who did not apply for free/reduced eligibility benefits. This status is collected in some state's for state reporting data.
SES/Socioeconomic Status
Type of approval based on an Educational Benefits Application processed via non-food service department staff. This Certified Type is only allowed with an Eligibility Type of SES.
This certified type is not sent to Campus Point of Sale terminals and is considered a "Paid" eligibility for meals.
SNAP
Type of approval based on confirmation from a local agency through direct certification that the household receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. All students identified as members of the household are categorically eligible for free meals or milk.
TANF
Type of approval based on confirmation from a local agency through direct certification that the household receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance. All students identified as members of the household are categorically eligible for free meals or milk.
FDPIR
Type of approval based on confirmation from a local agency through direct certification that the household receives assistance from the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). All students identified as members of the household are categorically eligible for free meals or milk.
If enabled by your district in FRAM Preferences, mark the Opt Out Medicaid/SCHIP checkbox(es) if your state's Medicaid/SCHIP agency should not contact the student's guardians.
Select the relevant Share Permission radio buttons if the parent wishes to have their child's eligibility status shared with district programs or staff.
The School Store and Activity Permission shares the student’s eligibility with the Campus School Store and Activity Registration tools. If the School Store setting to allow free and reduced pricing is enabled, students are charged a free or reduced price for items, activities, or athletics.
Districts may create additional Permissions, such as for a weekend food backpack program.
Click Save.
Sync Eligibility to State
This information applies only to districts linked to a Campus State Edition or Regional Edition installation.
In districts linked to a Campus State or Regional Edition installation, certain district-level eligibility information is synched to the state-level Eligibility tool. District-level values from the following fields will be automatically synced to the state level when an eligibility record is created, updated, or deleted:
