State, Local, and Tribal Government - State Child Nutrition Agency, SFA, and Schools

APPENDIX B14. STATE MEAL CLAIM DATA REQUEST

OMB Number: 0584-0530

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Dear <<STATE CHILD NUTRITION DIRECTOR/STATE DATA MANAGER>>:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has contracted with Westat to administer the third Access, Participation, Eligibility and Certification Study Series (APEC-III).

Under the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act (IPERIA) of 2012, all Federal agencies that administer large programs are required to report these findings to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The goal of the study is to provide FNS with reliable, national estimates of erroneous payments in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) in school year (SY) 2017-2018 to be compliant with applicable regulations.

Part of Westat’s data collection efforts include collecting meal claiming data from the State sent to the USDA. Previously, Westat has collected meal claiming data at the school level and from School Food Authorities.

We ask that you electronically send the meal claim data sent to the USDA for the target month through our secure website. Attached is a reference guide with instructions to send electronic meal claim data sent from the State to the USDA for the specified target month for the sampled SFA(s) in school year 2017-2018.

A member of the APEC-III Research team will contact you within the next few days to follow up on the status of your submission and we’ll be happy to assist you if there are questions regarding our request.

Please feel free to contact us at 1-855-820-6138 or schoolmealstudy@westat.com if you have any questions.

Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

<NAME AND TITLE OF SENDER>

Attachment: Reference Guide for State Meal Claim Data Request

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0530. The time required for the State data manager to complete this information collection is estimated to average 4 hours per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data sources, gather and maintain the data needed, and complete and review the collection of information.

Attachment: Reference Guide for State Meal Claim Data Request

WHAT WE ARE ASKING THE STATE CHILD NUTRITION OFFICES TO DO

We ask that you submit meal claims you submitted to USDA for <MONTH, YEAR> electronically through Westat’s secure web portal. Previously, Westat has collected meal claiming data at the school level and from School Food Authorities. This request is only for the SFAs sampled for APEC III. The SFA (s) sampled are:

< INSERT SFA 1>

<INSERT SFA 2, if applicable>

<INSERT SFA 3, if applicable>

ACCESING THE WEB-BASED PORTAL

To access Westat’s secure web portal, you will need the link and your personal identification number.

< INSERT URL / LINK>

Your PIN is: <INSERT PIN>

The link will take you to the landing page where you will be able to:

• Login using your Personal Identification Number (PIN)

• Access the Secure Web Portal

• Obtain the study’s contact information

UPLOADING AND TRANSMITTING MEAL PARTICIPATION DATA

1 To securely upload your data file(s), click on “Upload”.

2 Click on the “Browse…” button to navigate to the location of the data file on your computer, and click the “Open” button.

3 Next, click on “Submit File” to upload your data file.

• The data file(s) must be an Excel or CSV formatted text file.

• You can upload multiple files; however, only one file can be uploaded at a time.

• A confirmation thank you message displays when your file is uploaded.

4 You can confirm the upload of your file by clicking “Check Your Submission Status” located on the left side of the screen. This action opens the Data File Status screen for your SFA.

5 When you have completed uploading data files, click on “Logout” located on the top right side of the page.

REQUIRED DATA ELEMENTS

The required data elements for the file(s) are:

1. SFA Name

2. SFA ID

3. School Name

4. School ID

5. Number of Free Meals Claimed [in Month, Year]

6. Number of Reduced Priced Meals Claimed [in Month, Year]

7. Number of Paid Meals Claimed [in Month, Year]

QUESTIONS / COMMENTS?

Please contact us at 1-855-820-6138 or send an email to schoolmealstudy@westat.com if you have any technical questions or issues using the Web Portal.