Food Program Anniversaries in September

10 years: Barbette Francis  

20 years: Tammy Danhoff, Dawn Zaruba  

30 years: Kathleen Williams  

35 Years: Katherine Rank 

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

Welcome to Our New Area Coordinator!

Bilingual Food Program Area Coordinator Leila Santana Cairo 

Since 2019, Leila has been assistant director of a licensed family child care program owned by her mother. In her spare time, Leila enjoys trying new foods and traveling with her husband. Their favorite place to visit is Florida. Welcome, Leila!  

Components and Crediting 

Ask the Food Program

Question:

OOPS! I entered an incorrect food item into my menus. I don’t want to submit inaccurate information. How can I correct this? 

Answer:

Thanks for that question!



In CACFP.Net, select the correct menu tab. Select the field you need to change, then click the Clear button imaged on the left. The highlighted field will then clear. Be Sure to save your changes!  

Crediting Breastmilk Past the 1-Year Birthday  

Did you know that breastmilk is creditable on Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for children of any age? If you offer breastmilk to a child past the age of one year – whether the parent provides it for a child in care with you, or you are income eligible and claim your own child’s meals and snacks when child care children also are eating – record that in CACFP.Net by selecting Milk. Milk also will cover dairy milk of any fat content served to the other children aged 1 and older in care at that same meal or snack.  

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 calendar day, per family child care home, to children aged 1 and up. 
• Juice is not creditable for infants.  

Recipes to Try! 

• Try this recipe for Apple Corn Chili from MyPlate. Make it with chicken, or make it vegetarian. 
• Another recipe from MyPlate that is full of sweet and savory flavors are Asian Mango Chicken Wraps. When made as shown in the recipe, just add a serving of dairy milk for a complete lunch or dinner. 

Using Ounce Equivalents for Grains in the CACFP   

Click the picture below for more information.  

https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/CACFPworksheetGrainsOzEq .pdf

Monitoring and Oversight

Reimbursement Rates: July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026 

School-Aged Child in Care During School Hours: Required September Through May Annually   

When you claim meals or snacks for school-aged children that are customarily served during their school hours, such as A.M. Snack or Lunch, you must let the Food Program know why they are in child care. In CACFP.Net go to Site Changes, and select School Age Requests: 

Select the date, the name of the child from those enrolled in care, and click the meals and snacks. Add a statement about why the child is in care, such as “No school,” as shown below. Be sure to save your changes. 

This information will be sent electronically to the Food Program.  



Without this information on file, meals and snacks served to school-aged children during school hours from September through May could be disallowed. Note that school-aged means 5 years and older. 

Apply for the Higher Tier Anytime 

Has your household grown larger? Has your household income decreased? Do you now receive a qualifying service such as FoodShare? If so, you may qualify to receive the higher Tier 1 rates. You also may qualify to claim the residential children living in your home, if applicable. Applications and federal income guidelines are found here under Financial. 

Wisconsin WIC Program   

Child care providers who participate in the Food Program are required to distribute or post current WIC information. The current income eligibility information is here. 

To order WIC Outreach Materials in English and Spanish, follow this link. 

Out and About? Update Us, Please 

Be sure to report any days 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 not present, that meal will be deducted. This is a federal regulation.  

Note: Closures reported in the Child Care Portal are not reported to the Food Program.  

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. 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. 

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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