You are receiving this newsletter because you are enrolled in the WECA Food Program.

Stay connected: Check out our current staff directory here.

October 4 - National Taco Day

Read Dragons Love Tacos (Rubin, 2012) and make tacos together – without or without spicy salsa! – for lunch or dinner!

October 8 – World Egg Day

Read egg (Henkes, 2017,) An Extraordinary Egg (Lionni, 1994,) and There Is a Bird on Your Head (Willems, 2007) and eat Autumn Egg & Ham Bites! (Recipe included in this issue!)

5 years: Shirley Pitts

5 years: Maria Quevedo-Herrera

20 years: Kim Bjorklund

Congratulations! We applaud your commitment to serving nutritious meals and snacks to the children in your care.

Temitope in Milwaukee

Brianna in Milwaukee

Shakita in Milwaukee

Mercedes in Pelican Lake

Rachel in Little Suamico

We welcome you and celebrate this sign of professionalism!

WECA 2023 Provider Training is now available!

Completing the training is an annual requirement for all Food Program participants. The self-study, which is available here and on CACFP.net, is the only training the Food Program accepts to satisfy the annual training requirement.

Complete your training today, and keep a copy in your Food Program binder for review by your Area Coordinator at your next visit.

Question: I am confused about starting solid foods with child care infants, and my child care parents are starting their infants on solids at radically different ages. When is the “right” time to start solids?

Answer: Just like any developmental milestone, this will vary from child to child. CACFP guidelines state that providers offer solids at no additional charge to families when an infant is developmentally ready.

Feeding Infants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (USDA FNS, 2019) gives these precautions:

Infants fed solids before they are developmentally ready may increase the chance that they will:

• Choke on the food
• Drink less breastmilk or iron-fortified infant formula than needed in order to grow
• Be overweight or obese later in life

Feeding solid foods before a baby is ready:

• Does not help the baby sleep through the nightDoes not make the baby eat fewer times in a day

Delaying introduction of solid foods after the time babies are developmentally ready may increase the risk that babies will:

• Not get the nutrition they need, especially iron and zinc
• Not grow normally
• Reject foods when they are given at a later age
• Have delayed speech and motor development

Have other questions about infant feeding on the CACFP? Check your Food Program binder or download a copy of Feeding Infants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program in English or Spanish.

Watch this CACFP Halftime: Feeding Infants: Starting with Solids, a 30-minute video.

(Please note, this training video does not replace the Food Program annual nutrition training tool.)

Homemade Baby Food

Do you have one or more infants enrolled in your child care program? Commercial jarred infant foods can be costly. This handout from DPI explains how to make homemade baby food.

Breastmilk Storage Guidelines

Do you have one or more infants enrolled in your child care program? Commercial jarred infant foods can be costly. This handout from DPI explains how to make homemade baby food.

Be sure to keep a copy of the enrollment and Parent/Provider Formula Agreement with your Food Program records.

Claiming an Infant

You Must:

• Inform WECA whenever a parent supplies one meal component (solid or fluid) for an infant: On the CACFP.Net Main Menu page, click on One Infant Meal Component Provided by Parent. Complete the form and submit.
• Inform WECA f you serve different meal components to two or more developmentally ready infants in the same age category at the same meal service. Click on Infants of the Same Age fed Different Foods, complete the form, and submit.

Nondiscrimination Statement

During home visits starting Oct. 1, 2022, your Area Coordinator will provide printouts with the new nondiscrimination statement. If you reference your participation on CACFP in any marketing or child care information (such as your website, policy book or other materials), you must update those materials with the new nondiscrimination statement.

Between visits, be sure to place a copy of your updated policy book, your website information (such as the URL or a screen shot) or any other child care documents in your binder for review by your Area Coordinator during the next home visit to ensure they have the most current verbiage.

Including the current Nondiscrimination Statement when CACFP participation is referenced is a federal regulation.

Cooking and Nutrition Videos

Common Threads has some free, high-quality resources available to educators, children, and their families! Look here for cooking videos and other great information.

This year, WECA will continue to send you email communications. 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 anything important!

• Make sure we have your correct email address
• Make sure these emails are not going into your junk folder
• Please stay subscribed to our Constant Contact email communications

As soon as you know your new address and moving date, notify us. Log in to CACFP, select Changes, Provider Changes, complete the information, and submit the form. Email a copy of your updated regulation listing your new address to jgiles@wisconsinearlychildhood.org. 

You cannot be paid without a current regulation on file or if there is a lapse between the end date of your former license or certificate and the start date of your new regulation.

Remember your new address also may affect your tier.

Power of Advocacy

WECA has long been a leader in advocacy efforts supporting the early childhood workforce and early care and education in Wisconsin. Our newest step this year was launching Raising Wisconsin, an initiative supported by a broad multi-sector coalition of partners working to advance accessible, affordable child care, a well-compensated early childhood workforce, and optimal child health and well-being.

Want to stay informed and engaged in WECA and Raising Wisconsin’s efforts? Sign up for our Advocacy Digest and Alerts to receive timely and relevant updates, calls to action, research articles, and more. Note, the e-newsletter currently is available in English.