Summary
In June 2024, we released the following updates to assist with the requirement to report 5-17 age subcategory data for the FY24 annual report in N-PEARS:
Add Org Setting to enforce collecting 5-17 age subcategories
Update N-PEARS Export to estimate 5-17 age subcategories
More detail on both updates is included below. Please contact PEARS Support (support@pears.io, 785-789-3199) if you have questions.
Add Org Setting to enforce collecting 5-17 age subcategories
A new Organization Setting is now available, titled: “Require 5-17 Age Subcategories for Program Activity Demographics.” In PEARS, reporting program activity demographics for the age subcategories 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14-17 has historically been optional. The new Org Setting allows you to make these fields required when age data is reported in the broader 5-17 age category.
If the Org Setting is turned “on” additional validation for age 5-17 subcategories is included for any new program activity demographics reported:
If there is data in the 5-17 total field, the age subcategory fields must include data in order to save the form
If there is data in the 5-17 total field, the total of all sub-categories must match the total in the 5-17 field.
Turning “on” the Org Setting will not affect existing program activity demographics. If you would like to clean existing demographic data, the new validation will apply when updating existing records.
By default, the Org Setting is “off” and will not impact reporting for your agency. Organization Administrators in each organization (agency) can turn this setting on, if you would like to enforce reporting age subcategories for the remainder of FY24.
Update N-PEARS Export to estimate 5-17 age subcategories
For organizations that do not enforce reporting age 5-17 subcategory data within PEARS for FY24, there is still a way to estimate 5-17 age subcategory data to meet the FY24 annual report requirement. We’ve updated the N-PEARS Export to estimate age 5-17 subcategories, when this data is not provided.
The following logic is now included in the N-PEARS Export:
For each SNAP-Ed Program Activity missing 5-17 age subgroup data, the total from the 5-17 field will be evenly divided across all four subcategories (5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-17).
The totals will be added to the “estimated reach” age subgroup fields in the Direct Education sheet of the export.
The estimation will match the 5-17 total exactly, without adding decimals or “extra” participants, and any remainder will be assigned to a subcategory as needed.
The estimation will not overwrite existing age subgroup data but will only fill in missing age subgroup data.