Food Program Anniversaries in October

5 years:  Ashley Krieg, Jaclyn Lehman, Iesha Smith, Wulisha Connor  

25 years:  Joel Brown, Ethel Mae Glass, Gina Stowers   

30 years: Annie Bea McElroy   

35 Years: Jean Stefaniak  

40 Years: Joan Garski, Tina Grahek, Diana Smith, Debbie Snuggs  

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

2026 Annual Provider Training  

On October 1, 2025, the WECA Food Program will launch annual provider training for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Provider Training will be available from October 1 through October 31.  

Here is a user guide explaining how to login and complete the training. DPI mandates that providers complete training annually to remain in good standing.  

Components and Crediting 

Ask the Food Program

Question: 

My Whole grain-rich components ‘dropped out’ of my claim! I am careful to check the box whenever I serve a whole grain-rich component. What happened? 

Answer: 

Thanks to one of our providers, Food Program discovered that foods in the Grain category must be selected from the drop-down menu FIRST, and then the WG box must be checked. If done in reverse order, the WG box will deselect and may result in deductions during processing of your claim. 



So: SELECT, then CLICK!! 

REMEMBER, the CACFP meal patterns require that a whole grain-rich source be served at least once per calendar day. Failure to do so may result in deductions during claim processing and at the time of Home Visits.  

Recipes to Try! 

• Try this recipe from MyPlate for Baked Squash with Apples and Spices! 
• Try Sesame Turnips and Carrots, also from MyPlate. Note that this recipe calls for honey, which should not be served to children under 1 year of age. 

Combination Foods 

Homemade Combination Foods  

Whenever you serve one of your own recipes that combines two or more foods, be sure to enter each component on your menus. We don’t know your recipes! Be sure to serve the appropriate serving size by age for each component being served to each child in care. 

Commercial Combination Foods  

Commercial combination foods are only creditable when the actual content is known and documented by the product’s manufacturer. If you serve any commercial combination food, you must keep one of these on file for review during Home Visits. 

• A Child Nutrition (CN) label for that product OR 
• It’s Product Formulation Statement, which you may request by contacting the manufacturer. 

The CN label shows the item’s contribution to the USDA meal pattern requirements. Read labels carefully: Some products might meet only one requirement. A CN label does not indicate that a product is healthy. Commercial combination foods are often high in sodium, fat, and calories, and can be expensive. Note that many commercially available combination food items do not have CN labels! 

Menu Review done by Area Coordinators in advance of each Home Visit identifies the Combination Foods a provider served. Store-bought Combination Foods being served, those on hand, and whether they have a CN label or PFS are listed on the Product Review Log that is completed at each Home Visit. 

When your area coordinator observes commercial combination foods being served, they will verify that adequate portions were served per the information on the CN label or PFS. If no CN label or PFS is on file, disallowance must occur.  

The images above were taken from the CACFP Creditable and Non-Creditable Foods Guide. For more information, view the full guide.

Source: CACFP Training Spotlight: Crediting Documentation for Processed Food Items 

For more information about CN Labels, PFS and serving sizes for foods with a CN Label or PFS, consult the full guide.

Monitoring and Oversight

Claiming an Infant  

• When a parent supplies one meal component (solid or fluid) for an infant, the provider must provide all other components for that meal or snack service to that infant to claim and be paid for that meal/snack. Complete Infant Meal Component Provided by Parent found on the Food Program website when the parent supplies more than one component and submit the form. 
• Inform WECA if you serve different meal components to two or more developmentally ready infants in the same age category at the same meal service. Complete Infants of the Same Age Fed Different Foods on the Food Program website and submit to the Food Program. 

Not sure you and your child care parents know whether an infant is ‘developmentally ready’? Look here.

Will You Be Out, on a Field Trip, or on Vacation?  

Be sure to report any dates 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 deducted. This is a federal regulation. 

Closure information reported in the Child Care Portal is not available to Area Coordinators and does not meet this reporting threshold. 

Civil Rights: Your Responsibilities  

Be sure you: 

• Enroll all children in care onto CACFP regardless of age or protected class. This includes infant children, drop-in children or children with disabilities. 
• Offer iron-fortified infant formula and infant foods to all infants in care at no additional cost to families, giving parents the option to supply component(s) only if they choose. 
• Offer meals and snacks to all children in care and meal substitutions to children with disabilities. 
• Post or distribute the Building for the Future flyer. 

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

The Provider Connection is published by the WECA Food Program.

Any Questions: Call 608-240-9880 or visit our website.

Explore more of what WECA has to offer:

Center for Policy, Research and Engagement | Food Program | Pre-Licensing

REWARD | TEACH | WEESSN | Career Development | Conference | Membership