You are receiving this newsletter because you are enrolled in the WECA Food Program. |
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Your Monthly News & Updates |
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Stay connected: Check out our current staff directory here. |
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June 1st -World Milk Day
Read It Looked Like Spilt Milk (Shaw, 1988)
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June 7th- National Food Safety Day
Find recent recalls, food safety charts, and information about food poisoning and food-borne illness on
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Happy Anniversary! CACFP Anniversaries in June |
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Congratulations to these providers for 30 years of participation on the
Child and Adult Care Food Program!
Jean Meyer
Barbara Miller
We applaud your long commitment to serving healthy meals and snacks to the children in your care!
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Welcome to Our New Providers |
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CACFP participation is associated with providing quality child care! We celebrate this sign of professionalism!
- Eusebia in Milwaukee
- Marisol in Milwaukee
- Josie in La Crosse
- Shavonda in Milwaukee
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Advancing Equity in Wisconsin's Early Education Workforce |
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Early childhood educators, help advance a diverse and representative early childhood workforce in Wisconsin at all levels by participating in an equity study. It seeks to elevate the voices and lived experiences of early educators who identify as BIPOC – Black, Indigenous or Person of Color. Learn more about the study and how to participate here or by contacting Toshiba Adams, Ph.D./Leader Researcher at EquityInWIECE@gmail.com. Para más información o para participar en este estudio, comuníquese con Olga Neira en oneira@wisconsinearlychildhood.org. |
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The deadline to complete the required, annual nutrition training has passed. If your training is not completed, contact your Area Coordinator immediately. |
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A Visit from Governor Evers |
Dedee Schillinger and her child care friends recently received a visit by Governor Tony Evers! Dedee had voiced her thanks to the Governor and explained how the Child Care Counts: Stabilization Payment Program funds impacted her and averted her closing her program. Representative Beth Meyers and Senator Janet Bewley also visited!
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2022 Provider of the Year
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Congratulations to Tammy Dannhoff, who was named Provider of the Year by Wisconsin Family Child Care Association! |
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Will You Be Out?
With in-person visits resuming June 1st, be sure to report any days or times you will be closed or away from your child care during your business hours. Call or email your Area Coordinator before 7 a.m. to let them know. If your Area Coordinator shows up for a visit during a scheduled meal or snack service and you are gone, that meal will be deducted. This is a federal regulation.
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USDA Nationwide Waiver Expires 6/30/2022 |
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The USDA waiver put into effect during the pandemic is due to expire June 30, 2022. At that time, many providers’ tiering will change overnight from the Tier 1 rates to Tier 2 rates.
In addition, tiering approval for providers who are currently eligible to claim their own residential children’s meals when child care children are also eating will expire on June 30, 2022.
More information will be coming to your inbox July 1st!
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Annual Child Reenrollment
Have questions about the re-enrollment process for this year? This video below will take you through the process step by step.
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Haven’t cared for an infant in a while? One provider asked for clarification of the CACFP guidelines for claiming and being paid for infant meals. Her question is paraphrased here:
“Can an infant’s family bring in pureed (homemade or commercially prepared) baby food if I supply the iron fortified infant formula and iron fortified infant cereal, or do I need to supply everything to claim that infant on the Food Program?”
Our very own Mary Mahl answered:
“The parent of an infant may only supply 1 item of the meal.
If the parent is supplying breastmilk and the child is NOT developmentally ready for pureed foods, the meal is reimbursable.
If the parent supplies breastmilk and the child IS developmentally ready, the provider must supply ALL solid foods” [i.e., iron fortified infant cereal and pureed fruits/vegetables or meat/meat alternate.]” She goes on to say, “This can be tricky as the child may be developmentally ready for IFIC but not developmentally ready for fruit/veg or meat alternate.”
Do you have a question? Ask during a Home Visit or ask here! Email your question to jgiles@wisconsinearlychildhood.org. Please list Ask the Food Program in the subject line. Please confine your questions to those regarding Food Program participation.
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Mark your calendars now: The WECA Virtual Annual Conference returns September 29th to October 1st! We are pleased to offer a range of informative and engaging keynotes, breakouts and interactive sessions through the theme, “Cultivating Connections.” The conference will allow you to build connections, gain new learning opportunities and deepen professional development experiences.
Stay tuned! We look forward to seeing you this fall.
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Special Dietary Needs Due to …
Religious or lifestyle reasons? According to Feeding Infants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (2019,) if “a parent requests a meal change due to religious reasons, then another food item within the same food component can be substituted by you or the parents.” The same is true of a substitution made for lifestyle reasons, such as a vegetarian diet. “A baby [or child] following a vegetarian eating pattern may be offered pureed or mashed beans, cheese, yogurt, or whole eggs.”
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Preoccupation with Weight
Are you working with an overweight child? Do you wonder how you can help?
In Your Child’s Weight: Helping Without Harming (Birth Through Adolescence) (Satter, 2005) Ellyn Satter suggests:
- Raise children to be competent eaters.
- Know that children get chubby before periods of rapid growth. Trust that “he will grow up to achieve the size and shape that is right for him.” Don’t restrict. Don’t diet.
- Know that you are not responsible for fixing someone else’s size or shape. Ellyn believes, “The norms in our society are to be casual and unconcerned about feeding and preoccupied with weight.”
- Be clear about your own struggle. Don’t be critical of your own body. Encourage yourself.
Many of us have unhealthy body images and relationships with food ourselves. When, as adults, we put ourselves on a diet, however, we understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. Children forced to diet* by the well-meaning adults in their lives do not understand this. They don’t understand why they are hungry, why they aren’t allowed to eat until they feel satisfied, or why they are being denied the foods they find enjoyable or pleasurable. They do understand, either from what we say or what we do or both, that the people in the center of their lives want them to be different. Which means, of course, THAT THEY ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH AS THEY ARE.
Ellyn states plainly that “Any feeding problem that requires advice going beyond basic good parenting, positive feeding, and supporting normal growth and development is treatment,” and that “it is not possible to enroll [a] child in a ‘weight control program’ without his experiencing ‘adverse psychologic or emotional effects.’”
I think it is fair to say that few – if any! – of us are qualified to put another person into treatment for ‘weight control.’ I believe many of us have had enough experience with diets ourselves to acknowledge that they rarely work long term. I feel that most providers engaged in CHILD CARE have a significant, personal investment and relationship with each child. Child care at its best is accepting and expansive: When we do our best work, we take each child where he is, accept him where he is, and help him to grow and develop at the pace and along the path that is right for him.
Child CARE is not rejecting and reductive.
*Diet – a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight. (merriam-webster.com)
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Dig In! USDA Gardening Guide |
New to gardening? This great guide will help!
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This resource from MyPlate lists age-related milestones to post or share with your families:
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Your Agreement with the Food Program
The agreement you signed when you joined the Food Program specified your responsibilities as a participant. Section 2 and 9 are taken directly from the Agreement you have in your Food Program binder:
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This means
- You “must fully complete both menus and meal counts for each meal type no later than midnight of each day to receive reimbursement for meals served.
- You cannot use your child care attendance records to fill in meal count records after the day has ended.
- Menus and meal counts not recorded by the end of the day (no later than midnight) cannot be claimed for CACFP reimbursement.” (DPI Guidance Memo B)
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- You agreed to submit the information you kept accurately and daily to WECA by the 5th day of each calendar month. This is what constitutes an on-time claim.
If you are not meeting these responsibilities, you risk being flagged by your Area Coordinator during a visit, losing Food Program income, and facing potential disciplinary action.
To those of you who consistently meet these responsibilities, you understand that this is a program of integrity! You demonstrate your commitment and your professionalism every day, and we thank you!
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Grain/Oz Equivalents in the CACFP
Need clarification of the Grain/oz equivalents? Look here for the English and Spanish charts and worksheets: |
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Wowbutter Update: Not a Vegetable
The USDA has issued the following guidance regarding crediting WOWBUTTER: “Nut and seed butters, to include soy nut butter, only credit toward the meats/meat alternates component in Child Nutrition Programs and do not credit as a vegetable. This product may credit based on the Soy Nut Butter content per serving (FBG yield: 2 tablespoons nut/seed butter provides 1 oz meat alternate).”
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Are you thinking of baking with your child care children? Here are some great tips from Home Baking Association.
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Imitation Crab is Creditable as a Meat
Imitation crab (surimi) can be served and reimbursed as a Meat on the food Program. Surimi is made from fish (usually Pollack) that’s minced into a paste, blended with other ingredients, and then heated and pressed into shapes that look like crab meat. It’s available in chunks, shreds, and flakes, and can be served “as-is” in salads, sushi-style rolls and sandwiches, and more.
Surimi doesn’t have the nutrients of crab meat. The main ingredient is fish paste, and the second ingredient is usually water. Check the ingredients label, as the product may contain monosodium glutamate (MSG.)
Surimi Meat/meat alternate
- 1.0 ounces .25 ounces of M/MA
- 4.4 ounces 1.5 ounces of M/MA
- 30 ounces 1.0 ounces of M/MA
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Offer Water Throughout the Day |
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You are required to offer water to children throughout the day.
Water can be self-serve, or you can make water available in a variety of ways:
- Provide cups beside your kitchen sink.
- Set out pitchers of water and cups.
- Give water upon request.
- Serve water at snack when no other beverage is served.
- Offer water in a training cup or bottle for toddlers and infants.
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Water must be available during a meal or snack, but remember:
- Water does not replace milk.
- Water is not part of a reimbursable meal.
Be careful not to serve too much water before and during mealtime so kids will have room for the required foods and beverages.
Tip: Serve water in place of less healthy beverages that are served outside of snacks and meals. Water is less expensive for you and healthier for the children!
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Refer a Friend to WECA CACFP
Do you know another provider who does not participate on a Food Program? Think they might like WECA? If you refer a friend who joins our program and claims for at least two months, YOU will receive a nice parcel of children’s books as a thank you. You appreciate good word of mouth advertising – WECA does, too!
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Do We Have Your Email Address? |
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If we don’t, you risk missing out on notifications, such as tier renewal letters and other information that can have a direct impact on your child care business.
To change your email address, log into CACFP.Net and choose Changes from the menu bar at the top of the page. Then select Providers Changes, complete the required information, and click Submit.
Email Us Anytime!
Remember that you can email the WECA Food Program anytime, night or day, weekends or holidays. It is a good way to reach out to us, especially if you prefer an answer in writing. |
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Never Serve the Same Food Twice at the Same Meal Service
Do not serve and enter the same food twice at the same meal service. For example, stewed tomatoes and tomato juice are the same food - tomatoes.
Serve and enter a different vegetable or fruit so you don’t lose reimbursement for serving the same food twice.
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We Need Your Updated Regulation! |
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The Food Program cannot pay for the healthy meals and snacks you serve to children in your care without your current regulation!
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What is a CN Label? What’s a PFS?
It is your responsibility to obtain the required documentation and keep it on file. Your Area Coordinator must review it if she observes any of these foods being fed during a home visit. If you have any questions, contact your Area Coordinator.
According to USDA policy, if the product does not meet USDA portion-size/nutrition requirements, or if you don’t have any required documentation, the item will be deducted.
- Either the CN label or PFS must be on file for all store-bought combination foods and for any other foods as required, or you cannot be paid for those foods.
- Some foods may not have a CN label or a PFS; if you don’t have the correct documentation, do not serve the food.
- The PFS may be kept in the place of the CN label.
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Credible or Creditable?
We at the Food Program use the word creditable often. It means that a food item can be credited – claimed – when served in combination with other components to meet CACFP guidelines. MANY foods are creditable.
No foods are credible, which means “able to be believed or trusted” (dictionary.cambridge.org)
The Food Program: a credible source about creditable foods. (See what we did there?)
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Serving Meats/Meat Alternates at Lunch and Dinner |
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The Provider Connection is published by the WECA Food Program Claims Director: Pam Polenz
Provider Connection Editor: Julie Giles Questions: Call 608-240-9880 or visit our website.
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider |
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Explore more of what WECA has to offer:
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