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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May 14th – National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
Enjoy the Biscuit series by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (first published in 1996)
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May 28th – National Hamburger Day!
Read Burger Boy (Durant, 2006)
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Happy Anniversary! CACFP Anniversaries in May |
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Thank you for your commitment to serving healthy meals and
snacks to the children in your care!
15 years: Doris Hall, Nora Moris and Rachael Jonet
20 years: Debra Stoiber
25 years: Kristine Fischer
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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!
- Tonardo in Milwaukee.
- Kendra in Milwaukee.
- Quinnette in Milwaukee.
- Magdalena in Milwaukee.
- Alexis in Wauwatosa.
- Ana in Madison.
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Goodbye Virtual Home Visits! Welcome Your AC!
In-Person Home Visits Resume June 1st
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Remember when your Area Coordinator came to your door? Those days are returning when we resume in-person home visits on June 1st.
If there are COVID-19 protocols you would like your Area Coordinator to observe, please call or email to let them know.
If you will be closed, you must notify your Area Coordinator before 7 a.m. on any day you will be closed or out with children. Leave a voicemail for your Area Coordinator.
A full listing of WECA Food Program Staff and their contact information is here.
Important reminders:
- If your Area Coordinator attempts a visit and you are not available, that meal or snack service WILL be deducted. This is a federal regulation.
- You agreed to be visited by representatives of WECA, DPI and USDA when you signed your Agreement with the Food Program. Refusing a visit can be grounds for termination.
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Let's Cook! Wee Chefs - Big Results!
by Julie Giles, WECA Food Program Specialist
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Ever willing to make our own modifications, we adapted this recipe by reducing the salt to a pinch, reducing the sugar and exchanging it with brown sugar and increasing the amount of vanilla to 2 teaspoons.
Arlo’s mid-day departure for school meant that, for him to enjoy the fruit of his labor, I needed to condense the recommended hour the dough should have been refrigerated to 30 minutes. We also started the chilling process while the boys were still slicing and dicing the canned, drained peaches we used, which was contrary to the recipe. The dough was quite heavy and dense, and I don’t know whether changing the chilling interval influenced that, but the finished muffins were fairly light.
Rather than topping with sprinkled sugar, I split the muffins and spread a small amount of honey – which the boys love, and I never serve. (Honey as a cause of botulism is not a concern at their ages, but having sugary treats is a rare event – and, of course, one the boys feel is a cause for celebration!)
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Our muffins were quite tasty. The boys had been very skeptical of the sour cream the recipe called for us to add, but neither boy complained at all about the finished product.
Making Sour Cream Muffins was our final culinary adventure together! (See the article that follows to find out why.) At the least, I would hope that the boys will have fond memories – as I do – of chopping, whisking, tasting and sipping a variety of ingredients and flavors during their years in my home. I know that what seemed like mere fun to them was chock full of opportunities to take turns, watch and make change, measure and mix, enjoy new tastes and smells, think on their feet, and participate in a project that required the active participation of everyone to succeed. Every kitchen activity involved all of our senses and a variety of learning styles, and the adaptations I chose to make made our experiences safe for everyone.
It is bittersweet to come to the last WEE Chefs column. Maybe some of you who have considered cooking with your child care children will follow the example of my small friends. We providers spend a lot of time and thought feeding children. We can help them learn and appreciate where our food comes from and the labor that is needed to have it end up on our tables. We can offer them skills that will serve them well in their futures and give them unique opportunities to work and create something TOGETHER.
And the beauty of it is that it will seem like mere fun.
*CORRECTION to crediting information for Sour Cream Muffins in April, Provider Connection: 1 serving of Sour Cream Muffins (1 muffin) provides 1.5 oz eq. of grains.
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National Provider Appreciation Day |
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Provider Appreciation is usually a time for the community and families to pause and show appreciation for the child care providers who, through our work, keep others working. This year, Julie wanted to pause and reflect on her own appreciation of family child care and what this profession means to her.
Care to share?
What do you appreciate and value about being a family child care provider?
What has challenged you, and how has that challenge caused you to grow or to change?
Email your ideas to jgiles@wisconsinearlychildhood.org on or before May 15th for possible inclusion in the June Provider Connection. Use “One Provider’s Appreciation” in the subject line of your email. Please include the name of your family child care home.
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Wisconsin Early Childhood Association’s 2021 Annual Report is now available! Read it to review key highlights and program insights that illustrate WECA’s continued impact across the state. The report also provides a window into our vision for a powerful future in early care and education (ECE) and for the early childhood workforce. Check out the full report today! |
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Apply for the Higher Tier Anytime |
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Grow It, Try It, Like It! Nutrition Education Kit
Looking for some resources to educate children about gardening and nutrition? Here are some free materials from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service that are designed to introduce children to three fruits and three vegetables. |
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Your Agreement with the WECA 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 that you agreed to keep accurate daily records of foods served at each meal and snack and each enrolled child to whom you served them.
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This means that you agreed to submit the information you kept accurately and daily to WECA before midnight on 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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WowButter Update
A prior issue of Provider Connection included information about WOWBUTTER, a peanut-free and tree nut-free spread. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has determined this product does not credit as a vegetable. 2 tablespoons nut/seed butter provides 1-ounce meat alternate. DO NOT CREDIT AS A VEGETABLE.
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State Attendance Records are No Substitute for Daily Meal Counts
You must keep good business records and make them available to WECA, WI DPI, and/or USDA for review at any time during your normal business hours. If your records aren’t available, all meals/snacks that aren’t recorded must be deducted.
Your menus and meal counts (including each child’s name or ID number) must be recorded by the end of each business day.
State attendance records are not a substitute for your daily meal counts!
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Food Program 9-1-1! Some of My Enrolled Children are Yellow in CACFP.Net! Introducing Electronic Re-Enrollment
Don’t worry! Formerly-enrolled children who now appear in yellow and with an asterisk need to be re-enrolled! This is the process that helps the WECA/CACFP capture current information – updated address and phone number, for example – for your child care children and fulfills an annual mandate for a Food Program sponsorship by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and by USDA.
Not all your enrolled children may be subject to re-enrollment at this time: It depends what month you first enrolled them onto the Food Program.
Details of the electronic re-enrollment process will be coming to your inbox soon!
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'So Much is Expected'
Our annual Food Program Survey yielded so much helpful information! Thank you to those who weighed in and shared your experiences and insights.
One provider shared that “so much is expected of us!”
· Do you feel that?
· Are you willing to name two or three things that are expected of you as a provider?
· How have you dealt with these? Did you create a system to help you?
Please email jgiles@wisconsinearlychildhood.org with your contribution before May 20th. Please note that this is an opportunity to share and to lift each other up: Something you have struggled with and come to terms with may help another provider.
(Please do not list either mandates to meet our Certification or Licensing requirements or the CACFP meal patterns: These can be viewed as the baseline requirements to be a professional child care provider in Wisconsin.)
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Does a Parent Provide Infant Food?
According to CACFP guidelines, the parent may provide one meal component, but the provider must provide all other components served to the child to be eligible to claim and be paid for their meals and snacks.
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Direct Deposit forms are found on the WECA website: |
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Check with your financial institution to see when it credits your deposit to your account. Direct deposits are often made on the first working day of each month, BUT that depends when WECA receives funds from USDA. If your claim is received before midnight on the fifth day of the month following the claim month, it will be processed for on-time payment.
Payment for claims received thirty or more days past their due date is not guaranteed.
To find out the reimbursement date: Call 1-800-783-9322.
For English press 1; for the Food Program, press 2; for the check mailing date, press 1.
For Spanish press 2; for the Food Program, press 2; for the check mailing date, press 1.
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Has Your Regulation Been Updated?
If there are any changes to your child care certification or license, such as type of regulation, address, name change, capacity, age range of children in care, hours of operation and/or days of operation, you MUST submit a copy of your new cert or license to the WECA Food Program or fax it to 866-222-9520. Make sure the current version is posted on your wall.
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WECA will continue to send you communications via Constant Contact: For example, how to get your annual Food Program earnings, tier renewal, etc. It’s the easiest way for us to communicate with all of you at the same time. Don’t miss out on anything important!
- Make sure we have your correct email address
- Make sure these emails are not going into your junk folder
- Do not unsubscribe from our e-mail communications
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Provider Appreciation:
"Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"
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A Major Advocacy Milestone |
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WECA is thrilled to announce the launch of Raising Wisconsin, a groundbreaking new advocacy initiative that pushes for transformational change in early care and education (ECE) and optimal child health and well-being across our state. Raising Wisconsin builds on decades of WECA’s advocacy work on behalf of ECE and early childhood professionals, and is powered by a multi-sector coalition of expert and influential individuals and organizations. The initiative urges action from the standpoint of child care professionals, community leaders, families and economic leaders and how their unique perspectives and collective experiences illustrate the need for change.
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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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