Direct Certification Frequently Asked Questions

WHEN CAN IT BE DONE?

• The Direct Certification/Exempt Utility is done after you have imported students from your student information database into Meals Plus. Be sure to include students’ Social Security numbers in the Meals Plus import if possible.

  • We recommend that you run it at the beginning of the school year, before you start processing applications. You can re-run it later if you receive an updated Direct Cert file or if you want to check for additional matches for students who have moved into your district.
  • Direct Certified and Exempt students can be imported during verification; however, if a student in the DC file was selected for verification, they will not be updated.  A list will be provided of any students not updated because they were selected for verification.

HOW DOES IT MATCH STUDENTS?

The matching method is a ranking system based user-defined confidence levels.

• SSN and Student Id are both possible matching methods.

  • If a SSN in the Direct Cert/Exempt file matches a Meals Plus Student’s SSN:
    • A new Direct Certified/Exempt application will be created if the student does not have an application on file, using the student data that is on file in Meals Plus.
    • It will first look at the MP student record for the Parent name and address. If the MP student record does not have this information it will look at the Direct Cert/Exempt file. If no parent information is available, it will be handled as an Unmatched Application.
    • If the student already has an application on file but is not Direct Certified (DC) or Exempt, it will be updated to DC status.

• Please see detailed explanation of user-defined ranking below.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE IN THE DIRECT CERT/EXEMPT FILE?

• Enter as much information as possible for positive matches.

  • Student Social Security numbers are recommended but not required.
  • Student Id is helpful but not required.
  • A case number field is optional for Direct Certification students.

  • DOB (Date of Birth or Birth Date) may also be imported. The format must be YYYYMMDD.

    • If the DOB field is formatted incorrectly, a message will display: ‘Invalid Birth Date format. The correct format is YYYYMMDD.’

• It must also include all the fields that you are using in your customized Confidence Ranking table. The Confidence Ranking fields are First and Last Name, Address1 and Date of Birth.

HOW DO I GET BACK TO THE UNMATCHED LIST I DID NOT FINISH?

If you don’t finish reviewing all the students in one session, you can finish later.

• When you go back to Direct Certification/Exempt, if there are still unmatched students, it will give a choice to reprocess the existing file or start over with a new import:

  

  • If you click Yes, it will run the matching process again to refresh your data without deleting the unmatched data.
  • If you click No, it will take you back to the Direct Cert Import screen so you can start over.
    • Once you click Yes, the unmatched screen will appear.

    

    • Select the student(s) to be reprocessed by checking the box and clicking Process.

    • Click Import New File (this will delete any unmatched data) to start over by importing a new file.

    • Click Print to print a list of unmatched DC students to compare and match records easier.

      

  • If you click No, it will take you back to the Direct Cert Import screen so you can start over.

WHAT DO I DO WHEN A STUDENT IS ON AN APPLICATION MARKED AS INCOMPLETE AND COMES IN ON A DIRECT CERTIFICATION IMPORT?

• If a student is on an incomplete application and is also marked as Direct Certification, you must review the application and manually uncheck the incomplete application box if necessary.

©2018 EMS LINQ, Inc.

www.mealsplus.com

Student Eligibility, revised 7/2018