Child Nutrition Information Payment System

The Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) is a Web-based system that helps local educational agencies (LEAs/sponsors) administer state and federal nutrition programs such as the School Nutrition Program (SNP), Food Distribution Program (FDP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

The CNIPS enables LEAs/sponsors to easily submit and view the status of program applications, meal reimbursement claims, and access site and sponsor information within each program. The CNIPS also increases timeliness and accuracy of claims submission, processing, and payments, while reducing the administrative burden on LEAs/sponsors.

The California Department of Education (CDE) has developed a number of resources to help LEAs navigate the different aspects of CNIPS.

A list of frequently asked questions concerning SNP segments of the CNIPS is available at  http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/cn/faq.asp.

A CNIPS tutorial along with “how-to” videos are available to acquaint LEAs/sponsors with the CNIPS system. The “how-to” videos are approximately five to fifteen minutes in length and can be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/cn/snptraining.asp.

CDE has also developed an SNP Sponsor User Manual for CNIPS that is designed to provide LEAs/sponsors with a general explanation of each CNIPS available feature, step-by-step instruction for utilizing the CNIPS features including CNIPS screen examples, and tips to increase understanding of the CNIPS system. A link to the CNIPS User Manual can be found at the  bottom of the SNP CNIPS Training Web page at  http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/cn/snptraining.asp.