December 3, 2008
Dear Food Service Director/CNIPS Administrator:
ROLLOUT OF THE SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMS REIMBURSEMENT CLAIMS COMOPONENT WITHIN THE CHILD NUTRITION INFORMATION AND PAYMENT SYSTEM
The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) is thrilled to announce its rollout of the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) reimbursement claims component for School Nutrition Programs (SNP) sponsors. The system's online reimbursement claims component became available to SNP sponsors beginning November 25, 2008, at 8:00 a.m. Electronic submission of claims for meals and snacks served will result in a more efficient procedure for reimbursing your district/agency.
Implementation of the reimbursement claims component will begin with your October 2008 reimbursement claim(s). To prepare you for submitting your October and November claims via the new electronic system, the CDE has (1) provided a variety of CNIPS training opportunities statewide; (2) forwarded your CNIPS User IDs and passwords in August 2008; (3) informed you how to submit your sponsor and site applications for CDE approval in the CNIPS Quick Start Guide sent to you on August25, 2008; and, (4) requested that your district/agency submit the July, August, and September 2008 reimbursement claims via the current paper process.
Please note that you must validate, submit, and receive CDE approval of your Sponsor and Site Applications in the CNIPS prior to submitting your reimbursement claims via the online system. You must submit your October 2008 claims prior to the 50-day deadline of December 22, 2008, in order to avoid using your one-time exception (which can only be used once in a 36-month period) to submit a late claim.
We appreciate that many of you have made submission of your SNP applications a priority. Just a reminder from the Quick Start Guide (page 5)--when you select the Submit for Approval button to forward your Application Packet to the CDE, a red Requires Attention note will re-appear. This means that CDE staff must give their attention to reviewing and approving your application packet. Nothing further is required of you at this time at a later time.
During the CNIPS trainings, sponsors repeatedly commented on how easy it is to submit reimbursement claims in the new system. However, if needed, the following resources are available to assist with submission of your October 2008 and future reimbursement claims:
- CNIPS SNP User Manual: Available on the CNIPS home page at: https://www.cnips.ca.gov/Splash.asp.
- Integrated Help Feature in CNIPS: Can be accessed by selecting Help in the blue tool bar at the top of the screen.
- CNIPS Quick Start Guide: Can be accessed on the CNIPS Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/cn/.
- CNIPS Help Desk: Available from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by calling 800-952-5609 (option 06). You can also contact the Help Desk using the e-mail address below.
We sincerely appreciate your patience while we ensured the readiness of the claim component. If you have any questions regarding the rollout of the CNIPS reimbursement claims component, please contact the CNIPS Help Desk by e-mail at CNIPS@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Bramson-Paul, Director
Nutrition Services Division
PBP: jkl
1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814