Mid Michigan Child Care Food Program

Claiming Options

 

ONLINE CLAIMING

If paperwork is not necessarily your thing, you can use your home computer with Internet access to record and electronically submit your monthly claims. Your monthly attendance and meals are recorded into the secure web based program. Then at the end of the month you can submit your claim to us using the Internet. This option eliminates most of the daily paperwork and the regular mailing system. 

 

With Online Claiming you can easily:

• Record meals

• Enroll children

• Note school holidays, child sick days, etc.

• Pre-plan menus

• Record daily child in/out times

• Find out how much you'll be paid

• Decrease claim errors

 

Cut down on disallowances! Using the Minute Menu Online Claiming system, you can increase your reimbursement by decreasing errors that would be made when filling in paper forms. All of the foods that are creditable on the food program are easy to select and choose when planning your menus. If you wish, you can also pre-plan menus and print them for parents to view.

 

All meal attendance regulations apply for online claiming as well. You must keep your records up-to-date. End of the day attendance is allowed if you have fewer than 12 children present during a single day and if you have never been found to be seriously deficient. If you have more than 12 children present during a single day or you have been previously seriously deficient, you must do your attendance at the point of service. When a consultant from Mid Michigan Food Program comes to visit, they will ask to look at your menus and attendance on your computer screen.

 

All menus must meet USDA requirements. When serving a combination meal, you must always serve an additional side dish of a fruit/vegetable. (Example: you serve tuna noodle casserole with tuna, peas, mushrooms and pasta. You are only able to claim one of the vegetables and you must serve a side dish of another fruit/vegetable component.)

 

If your computer goes down for a period of time, you should keep track of your menus and attendance on paper until you are able to include them in your online claim. Be sure to keep paper records until your claim is successfully submitted online.

 

Child Registration Letters: You can easily enroll a child with Mid Michigan Food Program by inputting their information into the Minute Menu system. After all the information is included, print the form and have the parent review and sign it. Then mail it into Mid Michigan Food Program office so we can activate the child. From there you will be able to mark in the meals served to that child. If you enroll a new child during the middle of the month, you must submit the Child Registration Letter prior to submitting your monthly claim.

 

Submitting Your Claim: When you complete your monthly menus and attendance you will need to submit the claim through the Internet. There is no need to print a copy of your claim for your records. The Minute Menu system stores all your information for at least three years. You will need to submit your claim before you can start entering the next month's information. (Example: If you keep track of all of April's claim, you will need to electronically submit it to our office before you can start recording May's menus and attendance.) After our office has processed your claim, be sure to look at your Error Report online to see if there were any mistakes on your claim.

 

Check out the Minute Menu system at: www.minutemenu.com

 

READY MADE REGULAR MENUS

Ready Made Regular Menus: A Menu-Recording Option That Helps You Save Time And Money!

 

Ready Made Regular menus are menu forms pre-printed with meals created by Mid Michigan Food Program. We provide you with copies of Ready Made Regular Menus, which you use and submit to our office every month. You do not have to decide what foods to serve or what meals are approved for reimbursement because all the foods are already printed on the menu!

 

Why Are Ready Made Regular Menus So Great?

• Save you money. You are less likely to lose reimbursement due to menu errors.

• Save you time. You do not have to plan or write out a new menu each month.

• Keeps your menu up-to-date. You always know what food you are going to serve and your menu is always filled out when your consultant visits.

• Helps you be more organized. You will already know what the entire month's menu will be and you can plan your shopping list in advance.

• Our office staff processes your menu more efficiently.

 

How To Use Ready Made Regular Menus

• Call our office or ask your consultant for a set of our Ready Made Regular Menus.

• You will receive 4 sets of menus that will last approximately 4 months. Your Consultant will supply you with more copies at your visits. If you need more menus before that time, simply call our office.

• The Ready Made Regular Menus are numbered pages 1 - 4.

• Write in the Month, Year and License Number or Relative Care Billing Number on each menu.

• Write the Day and Date above each meal column.

• You can easily make changes by crossing off a food item and entering the substitute. Remember, if you do not serve the item listed, you must make the change on your menu.

• At the end of the month, sign and send in each menu with your Meal Attendance Sheet.

 

More About Ready Made Regular Menus

The meals and snacks on Ready Made Regular Menus are common choices we see on many menus. While trying to keep the menu simple, the nutritional needs of the children have also been taken into account. By using a variety of common fruits and vegetables, we are helping assure that the nutritional needs of the children are being met.

 

Ready Made Regular Menus have been designed to accommodate as many providers' needs as possible. As a result, many food items are not specific. Please serve a variety of these foods with the food components listed below.

 

Serve Variety!

Ready Made Regular Menus contain many food items that are not specific - Cereal, Crackers, Eggs, etc. You are required to list the type of juice, cereal, or crackers you are serving. We encourage you to serve a variety of these foods and have listed examples below:

 

100% Juice: Apple, Orange, Grape, Cranberry Blends, Pineapple, Strawberry, Tomato, Raspberry, Prune,  Grapefruit, Cherry, Juicy Juice Blends

Crackers: Saltine, Graham, Animal, Triscruits, Club, Goldfish, Wheat Thins, Cheese-Its, Ritz

Cookie: Oatmeal, Oreos, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Hydrox, Ginger Snaps, Creme Sandwich

Turkey: Ground Turkey, Turkey Breast, Turkey Nuggets, Sliced Turkey

Cereal: Oat, Rice, Wheat, Bran, Corn

Chicken: Baked, Grilled, Fried, Broiled, Barbequed, Nuggets, Filets

Eggs: Scrambled, Fried, Omelets, Quiche, Poached

Potato: Baked, Mashed, Boiled, Hash Browns, French Fries

 

Ready Made Regular Menu Policies

• Ready Made Regular Menus are only a guide. Providers MUST note ANY changes to the menu. You must record all substitutions on your Ready Made Regular Menus by crossing off the food not served and writing in an appropriate substitution. Your Food Program menu MUST reflect the food components you actually served.

• Any of the meals that offer a choice (ex: peanut butter/yogurt) the provider must circle the food that was served.

• In the spaces that offer juice, cereal, and crackers, the specific type of juice, cereal or cracker needs to be listed.

• The provider must be able to verify correct use of the menus whenever a consultant visits.

• If a Provider does not note changes (if needed) or cannot verify meals to a consultant, the provider will no longer be able to use the Ready Made Regular Menus.

 

To view an example of Ready Made Regular Menus with changes, click here.

 

PROVIDER-MADE CYCLE MENUS: A MENU-RECORDING OPTION THAT HELPS YOU SAVE TIME AND MONEY!

If you like the idea of our pre-printed Ready Made Regular Menus but would like to serve meals of your own or include seasonal items, Provider-Made Cycle menus may be for you!

 

All you need to do is complete four pages of menu forms and send them to our office for approval. We provide you with copies of your menu, which you use, and re-use each month. At the end of each month, send your menus to the office and begin the next month with a new copy of your Provider-Made Cycle Menus. After your initial task of creating your menus, you do not have to decide, day by day, what foods to serve because it is already written and approved on your Cycle Menu!

 

Why Are Cycle Menus So Great?

• Saves you money. You are less likely to lose reimbursement due to menu errors.

• Saves you time. You do not have to plan or write out a new menu each month.

• Keeps your menu up-to-date. You always know what food you are going to serve and your menu is always filled out when your consultant visits.

• Helps you to be more organized. You will already know what the entire month's menu will be and you can plan your shopping list in advance.

• Our office staff processes your menu more efficiently. 

 

How To Use Cycle Menus

• Fill out a menu for a full month on blank menu forms. You will need to complete four (4) forms. Call our office if you need more blank menus.

• Use all 7 columns on each menu form.

• Do not write in the days or dates.

• Make note of your name and license number on the top of the menu pages.

• Send your completed Provider-Made Cycle Menus to our office and mark "Attention Office Supervisor."

• The Office Supervisor will approve the menu and send you copies. (We keep the original.)

• You may begin using the menu as soon as you receive your copies.

• Just fill in the days and date and send the menu, along with your Meal Attendance Sheet and any other required forms, for your monthly claim.

• You can make changes by crossing off an item and entering a substitute.

• You can do more than one month. Three full months work well. You could also create a summer and winter Cycle Menu to use seasonal foods.

• If you need more copies of your Cycle Menus, simply call our office to request them.

 

 

Cycle Menu Policies

• Cycle Menus are only a guide. Providers MUST note ANY changes to the menu. You must record all substitutions on your Cycle Menus by crossing off the food not served and writing in the appropriate substitution. Your Food Program menu is a record of the foods you actually served.

• In the spaces that offer juice, cereal, and cracker, the specific type of juice, cereal, or cracker MUST be listed.

• The provider must be able to verify correct use of the menus whenever a consultant visits.

• If a provider does not note changes (if needed) or cannot verify meals to a consultant, the provider will no longer be able to use the Cycle Menus.

 

To receive a certificate of training hours you must complete a quiz based on the material above. You are required to get all questions correct. If you do not get 100% on the quiz the first time, you may take it over again. The results of the quiz will be emailed to Mid Michigan Child Care Food Program. When we receive the results of your quiz, a certificate of training completed will pop up that you can print. A copy of the certificate will also be emailed to you. 

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Claiming Options Quiz