Upload Participants
If you have a list of participants in an Excel spreadsheet, you can use the upload feature instead of creating each child or adult day care client individually. However, the information must be formatted exactly according to the template so that My Food Program can match the columns in your spreadsheet to the correct fields in My Food Program. We are happy to upload your participants (there is no fee for this service) so if you would prefer to have the My Food Program team complete the upload for you, please email [email protected].
Step 1: Get the Participant Upload Template
- The Participants Upload Template is available at https://www.myfoodprogram.com/reports-templates/
- The template download as a ".csv (comma delimited)" file type, which is readable by any spreadsheet software including Excel and Google Sheets.
- Do not change the file type from ".csv (comma delimited)" as the upload will not work if you use a format such as ".xlsx'
Step 2: Fill in the Participant Upload Template
- The Participants Upload Template has sample data entered so that you can see how the data is supposed to be formatted. Be sure to delete the sample rows before you complete the upload.
- Add your participant's data in the appropriate columns. A few notes about the data:
- The following columns are required for the upload to be successful:
- first_name
- last_name
- BirthDate
- Status
- StatusStartDate
- At least one of these columns must have a Y in them along with a start date: CACFPStandard, CACFPPreschool, CACFPSchoolAge, HeadStart,ARAM, NonCACFP. These are called Participant Program Types and you can learn more about them in our Help Center article on Participant Program Type. Typically, child care centers, family child care homes, emergency shelters and adult day care programs use CACFPStandard and afterschool programs use ARAM.
- If you leave the column "Classroom" blank, the participant will be added to the roster marked as the Default Roster
- If you enter any parent or guardian names, we recommend you also place a "Y" in the PrimaryGuardian column
- Participants will be combined into households only if the ParentName and ParentAddress fields are filled in for all the participants in the household and they are the same
- See the chart at the bottom of this article for a comprehensive chart of each of the fields.
When you are done filling in your data, save the template. Be sure to keep the original file extension “.csv (comma delimited)”. Excel files like “.xlsx” will not work.
Step 3: Upload the File
- Log into My Food Program and click on “Participants & Rosters” on the main site dashboard.
- Click on the green “Upload Participants” button.
- Use the file explorer to locate the file with participant information and click “Open”.
- To import all participants on your spreadsheet, click the checkbox next to the word “Participant” in the upper-left corner. This will select all participants on the list.
- If any participants cannot be imported, there will be an error message on the far right corner. You can either proceed with the upload and add those participants manually or cancel the upload and fix the errors in the spreadsheet.
- Once you have selected all the participants you wish to import, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save”.
Chart of All Fields
| Field Name | Acceptable Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| center_name | Text | Only needed if you are uploading participants for more than one site in one spreadsheet. If you are uploading participants for one site, leave this blank. |
| first_name | Text | |
| middle_name | Text | |
| last_name | Text | |
| BirthDate | MM/DD/YYYY | Be sure to use the four-digit year! |
| WithdrawalDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| Gender | M, F, Male, Female | |
| Status | Active, Pending, Incomplete, Inactive | |
| Allergies | Text | Will prompt alerts in MFP+ if any text is entered, so we discourage you from writing "no allergies" or "none" |
| Classroom | Text | If the roster does not exist, the roster will be automatically created during the upload |
| RaceBlack | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | This formula may be helpful if you have one column with race information instead of separate columns: =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("black",cell)),"Y","N") |
| RaceWhite | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | This formula may be helpful if you have one column with race information instead of separate columns:=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("white",cell)),"Y","N") |
| RaceAsian | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | This formula may be helpful if you have one column with race information instead of separate columns:=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("asian",cell)),"Y","N") |
| RaceHispanic | Y, N, Yes, No, T F | This formula may be helpful if you have one column with ethnicity information instead of separate columns:=IF(cell="Not Hispanic or Latino","N",IF(cell="Hispanic or Latino","Y","")) |
| RacePacificIslander | Y, N, Yes, No, T F | This formula may be helpful if you have one column with race information instead of separate columns: =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("pacific",cell)),"Y","N") |
| RaceAmericanIndian | Y, N, Yes, No, T F | This formula may be helpful if you have one column with race information instead of separate columns: =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("indian",cell)),"Y","N") |
| RateType | Hour, Day, Week Month | |
| Rate | Number with up to two decimals | |
| SchoolDayRate | Number with up to two decimals | |
| isProvidersChild | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | Only used for family child care homes |
| isFosterChild | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | Marks a child as a foster child with automatic eligibility for Tier I or Free category |
| isSpecialNeeds | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| isReceivesSubsidizedCare | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| isRelatedNonResidential | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | Only used for family child care homes |
| ExcludeFromLicenseCapacityCheck | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| external_child_id | Number or Text | |
| MonInTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| MonOutTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| MonInTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| MonOutTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| TueInTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| TueOutTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| TueInTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| TueOutTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| WedInTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| WedOutTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| WedInTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| WedOutTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| ThuInTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| ThuOutTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| ThuInTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| ThuOutTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| FriInTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| FriOutTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| FriInTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| FriOutTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SatInTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SatOutTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SatInTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SatOutTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SunInTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SunOutTime | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SunInTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| SunOutTime2 | HH:MM am/pm | |
| EarlySnack | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| Breakfast | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| AMSnack | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| Lunch | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| PMSnack | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| Dinner | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| EVSnack | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| CurrentEnrollmentDate | MM/DD/YYYY | If you enter an enrollment form start date, then you need to enter an expiration date |
| EnrollmentExpirationDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| InfantMealNotificationDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| FormulaOrBreastMilkSource | Breast Milk, Center Formula, Parent Formula | |
| SolidFoodSource | Center or Parent | |
| CenterFormulaBrand | Number | This is looking for a foodItemId. Contact My Food Program to get the foodItemId. |
| ParentFormulaBrand | Number | This is looking for a foodItemId. Contact My Food Program to get the foodItemId. |
| ReadyDateForFruitVeg | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| ReadyDateForMMAGrain | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| SpecialDiet | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| SpecialDietStatementStartDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| SpecialDietStatementEndDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| SpecialDietReason | Text | |
| SpecialDietDisability | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| FoodOmitted | Text | |
| FoodSubstituted | Text | |
| IEFSignatureDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| IEFExpirationDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| FRPCategory | Free, Reduced, Paid, Tier I, Tier II | |
| FRPEligibility | Refused, Income Provider Income, Case Number, Eligibility Number, Head Start, Direct Certification, Extended Certification, Foster, Migrant, Runaway, Homeless, Other, No Income, Blank Income Fields, Medicaid, SSI | |
| FRPCaseNum | Text or Number | |
| TitleXXExpiration | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| PrimaryGuardian | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| ParentName | Text | |
| ParentHomePhone | Number | |
| ParentWorkPhone | Number | |
| ParentAddress | Text or Number | Note that participants will be combined into the same household only if ParentName and ParentAddress are both an exact match. |
| ParentCity | Text | |
| PrimaryState | 2-letter state code | |
| ParentZip | ||
| ParentEmail | Text | |
| CACFPStandard | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| CACFPStandardStartDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| CACFPStandardEndDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| CACFPPreschool | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| CACFPPreschoolStartDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| CACFPPreschoolEndDate | MM/DD/YYYY |
| CACFPSchoolAge | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| CACFPSchoolAgeStartDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| CACFPSchoolAgeEndDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| HeadStart | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| HeadStartStartDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| HeadStartEndDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| ARAM | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| ARAMStartDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| ARAMEndDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| NonCACFP | Y, N, Yes, No, T, F | |
| NonCACFPStartDate | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| NonCACFPEndDate | MM/DD/YYYY |