Maine DOE Child Nutrition has partnered with Nutri-Link Technologies, Inc., to provide Online Free and Reduced Application Entry services, Nutri-Cloud, to school districts in Maine that participate in the federal school nutrition program. There is no cost to the district to implement. Nutri-Link is an Online Application Entry solution, allowing parents to go to a single URL (website), choose their school, and apply for meal benefits. It would also allow district staff to retrieve that application data, and export in a way they need it. This would make the process as simplified and uniformed as possible, for all. There may be additional questions on how each individual district would plan to use that data in their own system, i.e., import into another system, and Nutri-Link would be available to assist where possible. The Nutri-Link Team have available Webinars and a videos series to provide unlimited training and support.
It is free for districts to use to collect family income data to inform school meal eligibility and to access federal funding. The software interacts with nearly all other meal tracking software, so it's easy to implement and use with existing technology and software programs in the district. It is also available in multiple languages. Full Plates Full Potential, DOE, and other partners in the state will be conducting outreach to promote the state application to families. Districts can take advantage of that free advertising by utilizing the state's application! We know how critical it is to get applications returned while school meals are being served at no cost, and this online application is a great and easy tool to help encourage families to fill out and return their applications.
This is for districts that are currently participating in our federal school meals programs and have an agreement with Maine DOE Child Nutrition. Districts that are not currently offering the online meal benefit application and are interested in learning more about it, should email Sarah Platt (sarah.d.platt@maine.gov) directly and she will put them in touch with the contact at Nutri-Link who will set up a call with them and explain how the system works. At this point the district can decide whether or not they would like to proceed. One of the huge benefits of this program is the confidentially of it and the time savings for the Approving Officer in each district.
To check if your district is included on the list, click here (select Maine and then look for your district). To inquire about getting on the list and for additional information, contact Sarah Platt at DOE Child Nutrition (sarah.d.platt@maine.gov).