National Days in September

September 7: National Acorn Squash Day  



Read Mrs McNosh and the Great Big Squash, (Weeks, 2000) and enjoy acorn squash at any meal or snack! Or try other varieties of squash: Pattypan, Yellow, Zucchini, Butternut, Hubbard, Spaghetti Squash, etc. So many squashes, so many flavors! 

Food Program Anniversaries in September

5 years:  Erica Berkshire  

10 years: Joeli Meerdink  

15 years:  Magdalena Naparla  

20 years: Daniella Hansen 

25 years: Teresa Gift   

30 years: Elizabeth Eliason   



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

Welcome to Our New Providers!

Lanetreona, Elizabeth, Shawnta, Schenia, Tameka, and Tajeria in Milwaukee 

We welcome you and applaud this mark of professionalism!  

Components and Crediting 

Recipes to Try! 

Try these recipes featuring squash from MyPlate:  

Spicy Carrots and Squash

Apple-Stuffed Squash

Ask the Food Program

Question:

“Family child care is SO busy! How can I simplify my recordkeeping? I sometimes fall behind doing things the way I have been ...” 

Answer:

First, let me say that your intention to improve your recordkeeping is noted and appreciated. We can’t change what we don’t admit. 



The importance of maintaining accurate daily records cannot be stressed adequately. You maximize your Food Program reimbursement, help to streamline Home Visits with your Area Coordinator, and uphold the terms of the Agreement you signed when you joined the Food Program when your records are kept accurately and up to date. 

However, child care is very busy, and providers work long hours. How to navigate this? 

Here are two suggestions that may be helpful.   

• If you aren’t already using the CACFP.Net phone app, you may find this an efficient tool, as it allows you to enter your menus and attendance using your cellphone.  

Follow the instructions here to add the mobile site to your home screen. 

How to add CACFP.Net Mobile Site to the home screen on Android:  

1. Open your web browser. 
2. Go to www.cacfpnet.com/mobile. 
3. Tap the three vertical dots in the upper right corner of your screen. 
4. Tap “Add to home screen.”  

How to add CACFP.Net Mobile Site to the home screen on iPhone:  

1. Open the browser on your iPhone and go to www.cacfpnet.com/mobile. 
2. Press the “Share” button at the bottom of the screen (the box with an arrow pointing up.)  
3. Press “Add to Home Screen.” 
4. Edit Name. Press “Add” in upper right corner. 

Consider using rotational menus and/or pre-planning your menus in CACFP.Net to help streamline your record keeping. (Use your computer for this, rather than the phone app.) 

Log onto CACFP.Net. Under Planning, go to Custom Menus. As shown here, a list of pre-planned, creditable regular menus will open. 

Consider choosing a 2- or 4-week selection of rotational menus. At the end of the interval, the menu cycle restarts. This simplifies your shopping and claiming. Families may appreciate foreknowledge of the meals and snacks you will be serving to their children and your organized approach to feeding and nutrition! 

Whether you do decide to use rotational menus, you can still use the pre-planned numeric menus to enter the food items you plan to serve the children in care IN ADVANCE. 



Under Planning, select Meal Plans. This screen will open.

As you see above, I have chosen a Breakfast, A.M. Snack, and Lunch option from among the pre-planned menus. Be sure to Save your selections. 

Note that any changes to the menus would need to be updated to accurately reflect what is being served to the children at that meal or snack service. 

Note that this Planning feature allows providers to plan the menus – BUT NOT THE DAILY ATTENDANCE – for up to 90 days.  

Review the menu choices by opening that date on the calendar or the claim worksheet for that week: 

Now all that remains is for the provider to click in the daily attendance, enter infant menus, if any, for that day (as the numeric menus are planned only for children aged 1 – 12,) and CLICK THE WHOLE GRAIN SOURCE(S) SERVED ON THAT DATE, being sure to click Save. 

To be clear, there is no way to completely avoid doing daily recordkeeping. Providers have a mandate to uphold this standard as participants on the Food Program and recipients of funds that originate from the U.S. government, i.e., USDA. Like any necessary task, it is important to prioritize it and to develop a procedure – and practice that regularly until it becomes a habit. By doing that: 

• It will become second nature; 
• It will not be forgotten or neglected. 
• It will guarantee the accuracy of your records, and 
• It will maximize your Food Program earnings! 

*The Food Program recommends reviewing menu and attendance records prior to submitting your monthly claim. 

Vegetables in the CACFP  

Which of the following credits as a vegetable on CACFP?  

Want more information about veggies – and the answers to this quiz? Consult this resource from USDA.

Using Ounce Equivalents for Grains in the CACFP

Click the picture below for more information.

Juice Reminder   

Only 100% fruit or vegetable juice is creditable on the Food Program. A creditable juice product will state: Juice, full strength juice, single-strength juice, 100% juice, and reconstituted juice, juice from concentrate or juice concentrate.  

• Items named cocktail, beverage or drink are not 100% juice and are not creditable.    
• Choose your juice from the list of foods on the left side of your CACFP.Net online menu page. 
• You may serve juice once per day, per family day care home to children aged one and up. 
• Juice is not creditable for infants. 

Monitoring and Oversight

2025 Provider Training: Big Changes Ahead! 

On Oct. 1, 2024, the WECA Food Program will launch a new provider training that uses a new platform and follows a new timeline. Provider Training will be available from Oct. 1-31. 

The benefits: 

• User friendly platform; 
• Immediate feedback; 
• Results sent immediately to the Food Program.  

Upon completion, providers will be emailed: 

(1) a copy of their training to keep with their Food Program records, and  

(2) training certificates from both the Food Program and the Registry. 

DON’T BE LATE! 

• Complete and submit your 2025 Training when it opens Oct. 1, 2024. 

Tier 1 Eligibility for Children Enrolled in Head Start 

Children in Head Start who are also enrolled in a Tier 2 family child care home are eligible for higher Tier 1 reimbursement when served eligible meals in child care. 

• A copy of a current, approved Head Start application for the child’s family or a statement of enrollment in Head Start must be on file at the Food Program office.  
• Current documentation must be received for each fiscal year. The provider may assist in providing this documentation to WECA. 
• Siblings or other children of the child’s household are not automatically eligible for Tier 1 rates. 
• A provider is not automatically eligible for Tier 1 reimbursement because the provider’s own child is enrolled in Head Start. 
• Children who are officially categorized as Homeless, Runaway or Migrant children may also qualify for Tier 1 reimbursement. 

State Attendance Records Do Not Substitute for Daily Meal Counts 

Your menus and meal counts (including each child’s name or ID number) must be recorded online by the end of each business day. Paper templates are to be used for emergencies only. You must report your emergency to your Area Coordinator to receive approval to use a paper template. This is granted on a temporary, case-by-case basis. 

State attendance records will not be accepted by your Area Coordinator as a substitute for your daily meal counts. State attendance records will be used ONLY to compare with your Food Program records. (Source: WI FDCH Guidance Memorandum L, 2/2022) 

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.

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