When a new student enters your school and is uploaded to CALPADS, they are automatically looked up in the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) data to see if a student qualifies for free meals under the NSLP guidelines. This process is typically refreshed once a month. The results are then available via an extract that can be downloaded and analyzed or uploaded to your Student Information System.
This article will help you to request, download and review the direct certification file.
You must have a CALPADS login in order to do this. If you do not have a CALPADS user name and password, see your CALPADS administrator for your school.
Step 1: Navigate to https://www.calpads.ca.gov/ and login.
Step 2: From the CALPADS home screen, note the date of the current Direct Certification data as well as the next scheduled refresh in the “Important Messages” section.
Step 3: Using the menu on the left hand side, navigate to Extracts > Direct Certification Extract.
Step 4: You will now see a pop up window. Use the double arrow to move all “Available Schools” into the “Selected Schools” box on the right, or move schools individually using the single arrow. Select “All” under the header “CertificationStatusCode”. Click on “Request File”.
Step 5: You should be taken back to the Extracts screen where you will see a message that says “Extract Request made successfully. Please check back later for download.”
Step 6: After waiting a few minutes, and refreshing the Extracts page, you should see your file under the Submitted Extracts. Once the file status is “complete,” a download button will appear. Click “Download”.
Step 7: Review your file using your a spreadsheet program such as Excel.
This is a “^” delimited file. You will notice that the last column will contain a code from the following key:
- S =SNAP – The student is directly certified for free meals because the student is receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (also known as CalFresh).
- M = Free MediCal – The student is directly certified for free meals because the student has met the income eligibility criteria through the MediCal program.
- R = Reduced MediCal – The student is directly certified for reduced-price meals because the student has met the income eligibility criteria through the MediCal program.
- T = TANF – The student is directly certified for free meals through TANF, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (CalWORKS).
- N = Not Certified means that the student is Not Certified for free lunches.