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Ask the Food Program
Question:
I feel a little frustrated about all the ‘verifications’ and ‘review of foods on-hand' that is happening during Home Visits. I serve the foods I am supposed to, record my menus, and click in the children I feed at each meal and snack daily. I am busy with children during Home Visits, and a lot is going on. It feels kind of overwhelming when I am cited for not having some food items because I used it up and forgot to save the packaging. What more am I expected to be doing??
Answer:
First, let me say that the Food Program does understand that child care is a demanding job. Many of the staff at the Food Program are former child care providers, so we have firsthand knowledge of the challenges – and joys! - of working with young children.
Second, let me acknowledge that there are a lot of requirements to meet to participate successfully on CACFP. You mentioned serving the required foods in the required portions and keeping accurate, daily records, which are both primary responsibilities for providers, and ones you stated you are disciplined to uphold.
I also need to be clear that Food Program sponsorships have clear responsibilities to meet, and that DPI and USDA – our state and national sponsors, respectively – provide guidance we must uphold. Reviewing menus since the last Home Visit and verifying whether those items are on-hand is one of those requirements.
Let’s say, for example, that a provider’s menus since the last Home Visit routinely listed whole grain Cheerios, whole grain-rich crackers, whole wheat bread, and brown rice as being served. At the time of the unannounced Home Visit, none of those items are on-hand in the pantry or cupboard, and no empty packaging or label information is stored in the Food program binder. The first time this is observed is the 1st Occurrence. DPI guidance requires that the sponsor list this as a 1st Occurrence and to “follow up at the next Home Visit to check for foods or packaging on-hand if those items are still on menus.” If this occurs again at another Home Visit (not necessarily the next Home Visit, but another with a 2-year cycle), the consequences must escalate:
2nd Occurrence: Cite as a Finding and require packaging or a photo from the next purchase of foods not on-hand AND disallow (flag) meals back to the 1st of the prior month.
3rd Occurrence: Do as for the 2nd Occurrence AND disallow (flag) meals back to the date of the prior Home Visit.
4th Occurrence: Do as for the 2nd and 3rd Occurrence AND disallow (flag) meals back to the prior Home Visit again AND refer for potential Serious Deficiency.
(Source: WI DPI FDCH GM D: Monitoring Day Care Homes)
When none of the routinely claimed whole grain-rich items are on-hand and there is no packaging stored for review, it may be indicative of the provider recording food items that do not actually meet CACFP requirements for whole grain-rich products. This may be due to misunderstanding – for example, believing that enriched rice is a whole grain-rich rice (which it is not.) It may be a sign that the provider is fraudulent and is not upholding the integrity of the CACFP.
Area Coordinators are prescribing remedies during Home Visits to help providers correct these issues and comply with the guidance. If your Area Coordinator has told you to keep packaging for your whole grain-rich products, they are trying to help you avoid consequences that can, if uncorrected, become dire for providers. They can also become dire for sponsorships if, during routine DPI audits, we are found noncompliant with the guidance we have a commitment to uphold.
In the unfortunate event that this problem remains uncorrected by the provider, they are referred for Serious Deficiency. The worst-case scenario is that the provider would lose their right to participate in the CACFP anywhere in the nation for a period of 7 years, and their name would be added to the National Disqualified List. This – to state the obvious – is a very bad outcome. This is also the reason that the Area Coordinators are stressing the verifications and the review of foods on-hand. This is the reason they are asking providers to save packaging or to submit photos of foods they purchased that weren’t on-hand during a Home Visit. They are trying to help providers be more successful and avoid escalating, painful, and long-term consequences.
Help us to help you:
- Ask for more information if you don’t understand.
- Come to Open Office Hours on Wednesdays if you have questions.
- Read monthly Provider Connection for updates and important recaps.
- Go to the Food Program website and look at the information and resources available there.
The Food Program tries to help providers understand and uphold the guidance provided by DPI and USDA and to be successful in the CACFP. We want you to succeed. We know you have a big job. And so do we.
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