Food Program Anniversaries in February 

5 years:  Lexa Trumm  

20 years:  Ruth Vetrone, Felipa Ramirez  

30 Years: Karen Zelhofer  

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

Components and Crediting 

Ask the Food Program

Question: 

My Area Coordinator visited recently, and I did not have 1% or skim milk on hand. I was serving the whole milk I did have at lunch, and I had children aged 2 and older that were present. 

Child care is always so busy, and I’m not sure I understood everything my Area Coordinator said. I know some meals and snacks were flagged. Please help!   

Answer: 

Thank you for that question! 

The CACFP meal patterns require the use of dairy milk of the proper fat content per age of child. 

(Source: CACFP Creditable and Non-Creditable Foods Guide)  

Milk is the required beverage at all mealtimes. It may be one of 2 or more components served at snack, but it is not required to be served at snack. 

During a Home Visit, Area Coordinators are tasked with verifying that foods are “on-hand,” including, but not limited to, dairy milk. (Other foods subject to verification include whole grain-rich foods recorded on recent menus, cereals – for their adherence to the sugar limits, yogurt – for adherence to the sugar limits, Commercial Combination Foods – for CN labels or Product Formulation Statements that show they meet CACFP requirements, etc.). This information is required under Department of Public Instruction’s guidance and captured on the Home Visit Form, the Product Log, and the Companion Form used by our Area Coordinators.  

(Source: WI DPI CACFP Meal Pattern Documentation and Monitoring Requirements) 

(Source: Required Home Visit Findings, Disallowances, and Follow-Up) 



• If your Area Coordinator noted no 1% or skim milk in your refrigerator and no empty milk containers in the garbage during the Home Visit, they then have a mandate to disallow (i.e., flag) meals for any children aged 2 and older served earlier on the day of the Home Visit. 
• Your AC should also ask whether someone in the household could go out for milk of the proper fat content or whether milk of the proper fat content could be delivered during the day. 
• If the provider answered, “No,” the AC also would have to flag and disallow payment for meals (i.e., breakfast, lunch and dinner) for children aged 2 and older for the remainder of that calendar day. Snacks only would be subject to disallowance when milk was one of the two required components for a creditable snack.  (For example, a pre-planned snack of apples and milk would have to be disallowed for any child aged 2 and older.) This would include meals and, when applicable, snacks for any children over the age of 2 expected to be in care later that day. (See the Disallowances column in the image above.) 
• If milk of the proper fat content could be obtained during the child care day, the AC would inform the provider that they should send an image of the milk and a date-stamped receipt for the milk as required by DPI. (See the Follow-Up column in the image above.) 

We hope that clarifies both the guidance and what was being verified at the time of the Home Visit. If you have specific questions about your Home Visit, please ask your Area Coordinator. 

CACFP, the Food Pyramid and Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act

The Food Program has not received notification of changes to the CACFP meal patterns, per the recent updates to the Food Pyramid and the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Wisconsin Food Program sponsorships are overseen by Wisconsin DPI. Should new guidance be issued by DPI, the Food Program will share that in Home Visits and in the Provider Connection.  

Monitoring and Oversight

Mandatory Provider Nutrition Training for Fiscal Year 2025-26   

Many providers still have not completed their annual Food Program nutrition training! To remain in good standing, providers must complete training annually, or risk being made Seriously Deficient. 

Training is linked on CACFP.Net as shown here: 

Here is the link to the User Guide. 

Not sure whether your training for this fiscal year is complete? Contact your Area Coordinator.  

National CACFP Week March 15-21: Stirring Up Goodness  

Get ready to celebrate National CACFP Week with us! It’s a national education and information campaign sponsored annually the third week of March by the National CACFP Sponsors Association. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of how the USDA’s CACFP works to combat hunger. CACFP brings healthy foods to tables across the country for children in child care centers, homes, and afterschool programs, as well as adults in day care. 

(Source: National CACFP Association: https://www.cacfp.org/national-cacfp-week-main/) 

 Submit your images to foodprogram@wisconsinearlychildhood.org on or before March 10 to be entered in a drawing! Complete waivers if your pictures contain images of children in child care and submit the completed waivers with your photo. 

Note: Enter only once. Your input may be featured on social media and in other WECA electronic or print media. 

Children with Special Diets  

DPI requires that child care providers inform the Food Program “immediately upon the family requesting them to serve their child meals varying in any way from their menu.” (Source: WI DPI Guidance Memorandum L.) 

• If you and the parent clicked Special Diet during enrollment, this is notification. 
• If you were not aware of the Special Diet at the time of the child’s Food Program enrollment, notify the food program as soon as you are made aware. Email us at: foodprogram@wisconsinearlychildhood.org.  

In your email, please include the name and child ID for the child with the Special Diet and the meal modifications or changes the family has requested. 

Note: After notification, the Food Program will follow up to obtain proper documentation to uphold and possibly approve the Special Diet.  Not all Special Diets can be approved. 

Dropping Children From Care in CACFP.Net 

To drop a child from care, wait 60 days after you last claimed that child to be sure you have been paid correctly. 

• Log into CACFP.Net  
• On the main page, click on Drop a Child from care, located under Claim Tools. 
• Complete and submit the form. 

Did Your Receive Your Updated Child Care License or Certificate? 

Whenever you have updates to your child care license or cert – for example, type of regulation, address, name change, capacity, age range of children in care, hours of operation and/or days of operation – you MUST submit a copy of that updated regulation. Email to foodprogram@wisconsinearlychildhood.org. Be certain the most current version is posted on your wall. 

What is a Household Contact?  

The WECA Food Program is required to complete household contacts for some child care homes participating in our program because of federal regulations. If your family child care is chosen for a household contact, each family will be asked to complete and submit information about their child’s days and hours of attendance and the meals received in your child care home during a targeted interval. Completing this information carefully and in a timely fashion helps to ensure the integrity and quality of the Food Program. 

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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