Free and reduced price school meals, updates to direct certification with Medicaid

8/17/2023

The United States Department of Agriculture approved the Ohio Department of Education to partner with the Ohio Office of Medicaid for the Direct Certification with Medicaid pilot project beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. Accordingly, 2023-2024 direct certification lists may contain students approved for free meals or reduced meals through Medicaid in addition to those certified through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Ohio Works First (OWF). Note that Medicaid free or reduced-price meal program approval is only through the direct certification process.
 
Also new for school year 2023-2024 is a new direct certification module for accessing direct certification matches.
 
Staff directly involved in the school meal program direct certification process must gain access to the new direct certification module in the Ohio District Data Exchange (ODDEX). Accessing ODDEX requires an OH|ID and completed profile.
 
To create an OH|ID account and profile, visit the OH|ID account creation page. Directions on setting up an OH|ID are available on pages 3-17 of the How to Update Records in OEDS Guidance.
 
NOTE: If there is an existing OH|ID tied to a personal email for use with other State of Ohio agencies and the user is having trouble accessing ODDEX, the user should create a new OH|ID account using their school email address.
 
The OEDS district administrator must assign a role to the food service director for the Child Nutrition Direct Certification (CNDC). For more information about ODDEX role assignment, review the OEDS roles for ODDEX access page.  
 
Once permission is granted, users can access ODDEX by logging in to OH|ID and selecting the ODDEX tile.
If the OEDS administrator is assigned a role but the ODDEX tile is not showing, use this alternate link. Click “Open My Apps,” log in, scroll down to Web Systems and select ODDEX. This will take you directly to ODDEX and populate it to the MyOhio Apps page. 
 
CNDC Module guidance, including how to review students, run matches and configure export files, is available on the CNDC resources page. Contact child.nutrition@education.ohio.gov with questions.