Direct Certification

NYSED Child Nutrition information about Direct Certification    

NYS Child Nutrition requires school districts to complete the direct certification matching process at least 3 times a year; as close to the beginning of the new school year, by or near November 30th, and by or near February 28th. 

In addition, districts should consider working with their school district data coordinator to complete a DCMP in late December for a January data set reported to the federal government. An additional DCMP import in March for a second FRPL data reporting sent to the federal government. For CEP participating districts, the March DCMP import also ensures the most accurate free listing to include as of the April 1st date for CEP renewal. One final DCMP import in June should be run to catch every last eligible student for the year and to initiate carryover to the next school year. 

The direct certification process requires that a school district first download a direct certification file from the  NYSED Child Nutrition Business Portal. Access to that site is controlled and accessible only to authorized school district representatives. Please review the Child Nutrition website, State Match System Instructions and Guidance Documents, and Direct Certification Matching Process Instructions for more information about downloading the Direct Certification file.