Meal Counting and Claiming
Nuts and Bolts of School Nutrition
August 5, 2015
Presented by:
Doreen Iovanna, M.Ed., LDN, DT
Office for Nutrition, Health & Safety
What is the Purpose of an Accurate
Meal Counting and Claiming
System?
 To ensure the validity of the School Food
Authority’s (SFAs) monthly claim for
reimbursement
 To prevent a Performance Standard I Violation
 But most importantly…..
2
To Avoid Fiscal Action
Performance Standard I
7 CFR 210.18 (2)i
All free, reduced price and paid lunches
claimed for reimbursement are served only to
students eligible for free, reduced price and
paid lunches, respectively
Lunches are counted ,recorded, consolidated
and reported through a system which
consistently yield correct claims
3
What are the Components of a
Successful Meal Counting and Claiming
System?
Eligibility
Documentation
Point of Service
(POS)
Claim for
Reimbursement
Meal Counts
Internal
Controls
Collection
Procedures
• Edit Checks
• Monitoring
4
Reports
Video 1 – Making it Count
Developing Acceptable Meal Counting and
Collection Procedures
http://www.makingitcount.info/training/module-7
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Eligibility Documentation
Income eligibility documentation must be on file
for each student receiving a free or reducedprice meal
Provides the number of eligible students in each
category (free, reduced and full price)
Accurately reported on the medium of exchange
at the point of service
Supports your claim for Federal reimbursement
of meals
6
What are Point of Service (POS)
Meal Counts?
 Meal counts must be taken at the point of service
(POS)
 The point at which staff determines that a reimbursable
meal has been served to an eligible child or student
 Common POS locations are school cafeterias
 Alternate POS include classrooms and hallways
 Count:
 Reimbursable meals
 By category
 Each day
 Prevent Overt Identification
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What is Overt Identification?
 Overt identification is when a child is openly or
physically identified as receiving a free or reduced meal
 Some examples are:
 Separate meal service lines for students who are eligible for free,
reduced-price and paid meals
 Color-coded tickets for free/reduced eligible students
 Serving different meals
 Simple roster coding methods, such as F,R,P; or 1,2,3
 A casual observation of your point of service should
never be able to tell who is free, reduced, or paid
8
When Are Point of Service Meal
Counts Required?
Breakfast
Lunch
After School Snack
At Risk Snack & Supper
All meal counts must be conducted without overt identification
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Coded Rosters
Acceptable Coding Examples:
Coding by series: (1000 sequence for free,
2000 sequence for reduced and 3000
sequence for paid)
Coding by student ID number: Using the last
digit in a student’s ID number to indicate the
appropriate eligibility category (0 for free, odd
number for reduced and even number for
paid)
10
What is a Medium of Exchange?
 The medium of exchange includes any type of
ticket, token, I.D. , name or number that is issued
to the students for obtaining the meals
 Should allow for updates on a daily basis (noting
transfers, withdrawals and changes in status due
to verification, etc.)
 The meal count/collection system selected must
ensure that the medium of exchange prevents
overt identification of free and reduced-price meal
recipients in the coding, distribution and collection
processes
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Acceptable Mediums of Exchange Systems:
1. Verbal Identifier/Roster
2. Coded ticket/token
3. Coded I.D. cards
4. Cash Register Code System
5. Prepaid List
6. Computerized Bar Code
7. I.D. Cards
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Verbal Identifier/Roster
Examples include: name checklist, class list,
number list
Advantages
Disadvantages
•Cannot be stolen, lost or
destroyed
•Documentation of meal count is
produced during meal service as
names/numbers are checked off
on a roster or number sheet. If
used with a number sheet, may be
a fast method
•Can be used by another student or
twice by the same student if more
than one serving line.
•Coded roster sheet is time
consuming for cashiers using
manual system.
13
Examples of Rosters
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Coded Ticket/Token
Advantages
Disadvantages
•When collected at point-ofservice, provides a means of
physically counting meals by
category.
•When used in small to medium
schools, counts by category can
be completed quickly after the
meal service
•Can be destroyed, transferred,
lost, stolen or sold.
•In large schools, too cumbersome
to collect and count all tickets or
tokens by category after the meal
service.
•If not coded properly, may result
in overt identification.
15
Automated PIN Pad
Advantages
Disadvantages
•Provides accurate count and
saves time; compiles meal count
by category at the same time the
students are counted
•Students do not have to be in the
line by classroom; lines moves at
the same pace whether the
cashier knows all of the students
names or not
•Prevents overt identification on
the line
•Provides automated reports
•Students may forget their
numbers, thus slowing the line
•Start-up and operating costs may
be high
• If more than one service line,
there may be two meals claimed if
the electronic machines are not
linked
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Coded Bar Line
Advantages
Disadvantages
•Provides accurate count and
saves time; compiles meal count
by category at the same time the
students are counted.
•Students do not have to be in the
line by classroom; lines moves at
the same pace whether the
cashier knows all of the students
names or not
•Prevents overt identification on
the line.
•Provides automated reports.
•Can be lost, destroyed or
transferred.
•Start-up and operating costs may
be high.
•If more than one service line,
there may be two meal claimed if
the electronic machines are not
linked.
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Activity 1:
Acceptable Meal Counting Systems are?
YES  NO
1. Claims based only on meal counts taken in the morning in the classroom
or at any other location before the meal is served?
YES  NO
2. Claims based on attendance records?
YES  NO
3. Meal counts based on the number of tickets or tokens sold and distributed or
the number of meals paid in advance?
YES  NO
4. The number of free and reduced-price meals claimed based on the number
of students eligible to receive such meals?
YES  NO
5. Meal counts by category taken at the beginning of the serving line without
checking that the meals served are reimbursable?
YES  NO
6. Meal counts by category based on visual identification of students with
no backup system available for persons not familiar with the students; e.g.,
checklists?
YES  NO
7. Meal counts based on tray or plate counts?
YES  NO
8. Back-out systems used that subtract one number (e.g., number of free and
reduced-price meals) from the total count to get another number (e.g., the
number of full-price meals)?
YES  NO
9. The students who are eligible for meal benefits overtly identified?
YES  NO
10. A system that does NOT yield a reliable, accurate count of meals served
by category?
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Unacceptable Meal Count Systems
Meal count systems that are not acceptable because they do not provide a
daily count at the point-of-service of reimbursable meals, by
Category include:
 Attendance counts
 Tray, plate or entree counts
 Classroom counting
 Prepaid/charged meals counted on day paid
 Second meals claimed for reimbursement
 Ineligible persons claimed for reimbursement
 Cash converted to meals
 A la carte items claimed for reimbursement
 Category/cash back-out system
 Delivery counts of meals produced off-site
 Visual identification without backup
19
Determine which type of meal counting system is best
for each site. It may vary from site to site. It may also
vary from breakfast to lunch.
20
Eligibility Documentation
and
Meal Counts
 Residential students only –
RCCI-1 Form: Record of enrollment for free
eligible students based on household of one
 Day students –
Eligibility Roster: Indicating free, reduced and
paid eligibility based on meal benefit
applications or direct certification
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Meal Count Roster
Meal Count Roster- must be used when claiming day students as
free, reduced, or paid. Counts must be totaled daily across eligibility
category. Eligibility code prevents overt identification at POS.
22
RCCI-1 Enrollment Form
 RCCI-1 form for each residential facility/site
 Update as residents enter and or withdraw
 Maintain separate RCCI-1 for each Fiscal Year
23
What are Meal Counting and
Claiming Collection Procedures?
Collection procedures refers to all the steps
within the meal count system involved in
paying for meals and issuing and collecting the
medium of exchange.
24
Meal Counting and Collection Procedures
Self Assessment :
What are your current meal counting method(s)
used for breakfast and lunch?
Are meal counts conducted at POS?
Are all staff members following them?
Are they accurate for each site?
Policy for adult or visitor meals?
Procedure to count field trips?
Procedure to count student workers’ meals?
Procedure for handling/counting of second meals?
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Meal Counting and Collection Procedures
Self Assessment :
 How is the medium of exchange non-overtly coded for
free, reduced price and full price?
 What safeguards are used to prevent your medium of
exchange from being duplicated, used by an
unauthorized person, or used twice in one meal
service?
 Who distributes the medium of exchange? Where and
when?
 How is the medium of exchange collected at point of
service? Include who collects and at what place in the
serving line. Who insures that tickets, if used, are not
used twice?
 How is overt identification avoided for reduced price
eligible students who choose to pay in the line?
26
Meal Counting and Collection Procedures
Implementation Brainstorm
 Current Challenge:
 Future Expectations:
Implementation Brainstorm
Who
What
When
Where
How
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Video 2 – Making it Count
Consolidation and Reporting
http://www.makingitcount.info/training/module8a/
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Meal Count Consolidation Reports
•Daily Potential Income Sheet
•FP-9 form
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Daily Potential Income Sheet
Daily Cash/Cash Reconciliation Sheet
Tracks daily sales by category
Free, reduced, paid
Breakfast, lunch, snack, special milk
A la carte
Adult sales (including meals tax)
Pre-payments
Cash reconciliation
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Daily Potential Income Sheet
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FP-9 Meal Count Sheet
 FP-9 for every school site
 Record meals by eligibility
 Edit checks- A,B,C and D
 Signature of site/facility representative
 Monthly submission to person consolidating claim
32
33
Reference: ESE Document and Reference Library –
NSLP National School Lunch Program - FP-9
Activity 2
Complete the following:
.944
 Part A: Attendance Factor
 Part C: February 28, 2011
 F = 80
 R= 15
 P =175
 Part D:
Average Daily Participation
 Part B: Edit Checks
 Do free counts exceed
approved free applications on
file?
 Do reduced counts exceed
approved reduced
applications on file?
34
Meal Count Consolidation
Self Assessment
Meal count consolidation form(s) and
procedures which include staff
responsibilities for the tasks identified:
Daily Potential Income
FP-9
35
Meal Count Consolidation
Implementation Brainstorm
 Current Challenge:
 Future Expectations:
Implementation Brainstorm
Who
What
When
Where
How
36
Internal Controls
The SFA must establish internal controls to
ensure that an accurate claim for
reimbursement has been made by:
Completing daily edit checks
Monitoring
37
Edit Checks
The purpose of the edit check procedure is to
identify errors in the schools’ lunch counts
and/or problems with the meal counting and
claiming procedures so that necessary
corrections are made
38
Edit Checks
USDA regulations require SFAs to complete an
edit check for each of its schools that
participate in the NSLP prior to consolidation
of the daily lunch counts for the monthly
reimbursement claim
39
Edits Checks
USDA’S REQUIRED EDIT CHECK PROCEDURES FOR EACH SCHOOL
1. Obtain and record the highest number of students in
each category
2. Compute the attendance factor
3. Multiply the number of enrolled children approved in each
meal category (free, reduced-price and paid) by the
monthly attendance factor
4. Compare these numbers; know as attendance adjusted
eligible figures to the daily free counts of free, reducedprice and paid meals
5. Provide written justification next to the day where any
category count exceeds the attendance-adjusted number.
(Sample justification could be meal participation
increased due to a pizza day or special promotion.)
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Edit Check:
Attendance Adjusted Eligible
Highest # of Student
Approved in Month
Attendance Factor
(average daily attendance
÷ school enrollment)
Highest # of Lunches
Expected for Any
Serving Day
Free
________________
X
______________
=
________________
Reduced-Price
________________
X
______________
=
________________
Paid
________________
X
______________
=
________________
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Edit Check:
Attendance Adjusted Eligible
•School’s highest number of students approved for free meal benefits during the month: 112
•School’s highest number of students approved for reduced price benefits during the month: 25
•School’s highest daily enrollment for students with access to the lunch program: 540
•School’s highest number of students in the paid category: 540 – 137 = 403
•School’s average daily attendance: 510
School’s attendance factor: 510 ÷ 540 = .944
Highest # of Student
Approved in Month
Attendance Factor
(average daily attendance
÷ school enrollment)
Highest # of Lunches
Expected for Any
Serving Day
Free
______112_______ X
_____.944_________ =
__105.7 or 106___
Reduced-Price
_______25_______ X
_____.944_________
=
___23.6 or 24__
Paid
______403______ X
_____.944_________
=
_380.4 or 380__
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Other Edit Checks
Patterns or repetition of numbers
Counts which equal the number of eligible's
Counts equal to the number of meals delivered
Identical counts on certain days (like every
Monday or at breakfast and lunch)
All of these are red flags which may tell
you that you need to investigate further
43
Monthly Edits Check
Meal counts on the Claim for Reimbursement
must also not exceed the number of children
approved in any eligibility category multiplied
by the operating days within the month
Example (FP-9 activity):
112 Free x 15 operating days = 1680 max meals
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Activity 3– Making it Count
Making the F-9 Count
http://www.makingitcount.info/training/module8a/activity/
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Self Assessment
Edits Checks
Procedures for conducting edits checks of daily
meal counts, including staff responsibilities
and when these checks are completed?
46
Edit Check Procedures
Implementation Brainstorm
 Current Challenge:
 Future Expectations:
Implementation Brainstorm
Who
What
When
Where
How
47
Video 3 – Making it Count
Accuclaim Monitoring Report
http://www.makingitcount.info/training/module8b/
48
Site Monitoring
Accuclaim: (Accurate Claim)
SFAs must monitor the lunch service at all
sites to evaluate meal counting procedures by
February 1 each year. Monitoring of
breakfast is also recommended
SFAs participating in the After School Snack
Program must monitor snacks twice per year
( the beginning the first 4 weeks of school and
one other during the year)
SFAs should record monitoring activities on
required forms located in the document library
49
Site Monitoring
Monitors should ensure that sites do not claim the
following meals/food:
 Adult Meals
 Second meals eaten by eligible students
 Suppers or dinners (third meal of the day) unless the
SFA participates in the Child and Adult Care Food
Program (CACFP) At-risk Afterschool Program
 Snacks served on ineligible days
 Meals not meeting the meal pattern
 Meals served outside the required meal periods, unless
otherwise approved
 A la carte items
50
Accuclaim On-site Review Checklist
51
Reference: ESE Document and Reference Library – NSLP National School Lunch Program
After School Snack Monitoring Form
On-Site School Review Form for Snacks In After School Care Programs
To be used for required self review/NOT to be submitted to any agency.
Review must be completed for each school twice each school year.
The first review must be conducted within the first four weeks of operation.
__________________________________
SCHOOL
________________________
DATE
Please check one:
____ The after school snack counting and claiming system was reviewed and found
to be IN COMPLIANCE with 7 CFR 210.9(c) of the regulations of the USDA
Food and Nutrition Service. The snack menus met the meal pattern regulations
correct claims for reimbursement.
________________________________________
Reviewer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------____ The after school snack counting and claiming system was reviewed and found to
be in NON-COMPLIANCE with 7 CFR 210.9(c) of the Regulations of the
USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Please describe the corrective action taken.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________
Reviewer
Reference: ESE Document and Reference Library – NSLP National School Lunch Program
52
Staff Training & Professional Development
All SFAs should have a training plan for meal counting
procedures. The plan should include:
Annual training for staff in key positions
Ongoing training for new staff with identified
problems
Annual review of all meal counting procedures
Maintain agenda and sign-in sheets
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Professional Standard Final Rule
Effective July 15, 2015
Training information can be found at:
http://professionalstandards.nal.usda.gov
Professional standard information can be
found at:
http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/Pr
ofStandards/profstandards_flyer.pdf
54
Monitoring and Training
Self Assessment
What are your current procedures for
conducting site monitoring?
Current training practices?
Who conducts trainings?
Who needs to attend?
55
Monitoring & Training
Implementation Brainstorm
 Current Challenge:
 Future Expectations:
Implementation Brainstorm
Who
What
When
Where
How
56
Take A Final Look Before Hitting Submit
Make sure edit checks have been conducted
on each school’s counts
Consolidate daily meal counts to monthly site
totals by meal
Once you’ve completed the edit, conducted
your comparisons, found no problems, you can
submit your claim
57
School Site Information For All Schools Including
RCCI’s with Both Day and Residential Students
 Input counts
by site (under
school
selection)
 Information
from site FP-9
is used to fill
out the claim
for
reimbursement
58
Remember:
Meal Counts Records Retention
SFAs must retain original meal count records
for the current day and month by site
SFAs must retain all meal counts records,
including rosters and site monitoring reports
for three (3) years after the submission of the
final claim for reimbursement for the fiscal
year, plus the current fiscal year’s records.
If there is an open audit for any fiscal year, all
records must be retained until closure
notification of the audit.
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Sometimes You Just Have To Put
Your Hand On Your Hip…
To make sure it’s right!
60
For All You Do!
61
Questions
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Created in Partnership: 2014 Meal Counting, Claiming and ReimbursementA. Chisholm and K. Kefalas