Food Program Anniversaries in June

5 years:  Idalia Dominguez, Ilishia Gholson  

20 years: Curetia Washington  



25 years:  Patti Groom  

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

Components and Crediting 

Ask the Food Program

Question: 

I received Capacity/age ratio errors on a recent claim. I watch my group size and age ratios carefully to be sure I don’t exceed my capacity, and I don't claim more children at a meal or snack than I am regulated for. How could this happen? Did the Food Program make a mistake?

Answer: 

Thank you for that question! 



Because (1) you are already careful to watch your capacity and age ratios per your regulation type, and (2) you report you do not claim more children than your regulation allows at a meal or snack, you have ruled out two of the most frequent issues that result in Capacity/age ratio errors. Let’s look at how the way inaccurate information during Child Enrollment is a third source that may cause Capacity/age ratio errors. 

During Child Enrollment, if you and the parent did not select Related Resident or Related Non-resident for children in care that are related to you, that information won’t populate in the database for any related children. This, in turn, may result in errors during your claim processing since the Food Program may be unaware that children you claim are related to you. 

Information selected in the section of the Child Enrollment shown above is captured in the database as shown here:

Careful verifications that happen during claims processing depend on accurate information being submitted during Child Enrollments, and for enrolling infants, in the Parent Provider Formula Agreement. (For more coverage of this topic, go to Enrolling Children in CACFP.Net)  

After double checking the accuracy of your Child Enrollment information, if you believe the Food Program made an error during processing of your claim, email foodprogram@wisconsinearlychildhood.org before the 20th of the month to request an adjustment. 

If you find that your Child Enrollment information was incorrect, email the Food Program to let us know. We can trigger re-enrollment of the child(ren) who require corrected Child Enrollments to prevent issues with your future months’ claims. Deductions to prior months’ claims for this issue are considered provider error and cannot be adjusted. 

Recipe(s) to Try!  

Try this recipe for Mediterranean Quinoa Salad from USDA Recipes for Healthy Kids for Homes! Quinoa is a whole grain-rich grain on CACFP!

MILK on CACFP – Updates to Prepare For!  

USDA released a final rule that allows whole and reduced fat (2%) milk to be offered to children ages two and up in the CACFP. National CACFP has provided the information here:  

(Source: Final Rules: Expanding Fluid Milk Options in CNPs)  

The updates are scheduled to take effect on June 8, 2026. 

Important Note: At present, DPI, which oversees all WI CACFP Sponsorships, has not provided updated guidance. As information becomes available, the WECA Food Program will share it in Provider Connection and on the Food Program website: https://wisconsinearlychildhood.org/programs/food-program/ 

Test Yourself! Grains Crediting for Mystery Products  

Review the ingredients lists for Mystery Products 1 and 2. 

• Do they credit on CACFP? 
• Do they credit as whole grain-rich on CACFP? 



Find the answers at the end of the current issue!

(Source: Crediting Handbook for the CACFP, p 83 https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/tn-cacfp-crediting-handbook.pdf ) 

Monitoring and Oversight

Tiering Expires on June 30, 2026 

Every income eligibility determination expires on June 30, 2026. 

Important reminders about tier applications: 

• Remember that the deadline for a July 1st effective date is always July 31. 
• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not allow adjustments for late or missing paperwork/documentation. 
• It is your responsibility to submit all required forms and documentation by the deadline. 

Tier information and applications will be emailed to your email address on file on July 1, 2026. No information is available until July 1, 2026. 

Tiering for Children Enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start  

Do you have one or more children enrolled in Head Start enrolled in your child care? According to DPI, “All children enrolled in Head Start, including Early Head Start, are automatically Tier 1 eligible with certification from the Head Start agency.” 

Proper document of Head Start enrollment is: 

• A copy of the approved Head Start application; or 

A document that includes:  

• Certification that the children are currently enrolled in Head Start 
• Name or signature of Head Start personnel providing the certification  
• Date of certification  

The above documentation must be provided annually to verify a child’s continued eligibility for Tier 1. 

Parent Letter: Building For the Future  

Family child care homes that participate on CACFP must either have the current Parent Letter posted on site, or a copy can be distributed to each family with a child in care. 

https://wisconsinearlychildhood.org/app/uploads/2025/04/Parent-Welcome-Letter-Bldg-Future-10.24-ENG-SPA-PDF-1.pdf

Current Nondiscrimination Statement 

Whenever you reference participating on the Food Program or on CACFP in your written materials - i.e., in your policy book or on your website – you must also have the current nondiscrimination statement included with that information. Find it here.   

If the material or document is too small to permit the full statement to be included, the material MUST at a minimum include: “This institution is an equal opportunity provider.” Use the same sized font as elsewhere in the document. This is a federal regulation. 

Enrolling Children in CACFP.Net 

When you add a child in CACFP.Net, be sure to use the parent email address in the field highlighted in yellow in this image: 

Providers should not use their own email addresses in this field. The form emailed to the parent after the provider submits the Child Enrollment information is protected by a PIN. Only the parent or guardian is authorized to fill out this section of the Child Enrollment form; the provider is not.  

If you work with a family that does not currently have an email address, you may help them set up an email. 



Important things to watch for: 

• Date of birth – is it correct? 
• If the enrolling child is an infant, the provider should select or type in the brand of iron fortified infant formula they offer at no additional charge to families. In the Other field, select Formula Agreement if the enrolling child is an infant. 

When you receive your copy of the Child Enrollment form, be sure that the type of iron fortified infant formula is accurate, and the information about what component(s) you provide and what component(s) if any the parent provides is correct. 

The image below shows the database information for a demonstration child: The information circled in red shows that the provider and the parent agreed that the provider would supply both iron fortified infant formula and infant foods when the child is developmentally ready. Creditable infant meals and snacks served to infant #196 can be reimbursed by the Food Program. If the parent provided more than 1 component of a meal or snack, no payment could be issued to the provider.

• Is the child Related? Related means: grandchild, niece, nephew, 1st cousin, sister, brother, aunt, uncle. Other relationships are too distant to meet the definition of ‘related’ for the Food Program. 

In the Other field, select whether the Related child is a Related non resident or a Related resident:  

• If the Related child resides at the same address as the provider, they are a Related resident. 
• If they reside at another address, they are a Related non-resident. 

Accurate enrollment information for children that are related to the provider and children that are the provider’s own is necessary to verify capacity and age ratio information during claims processing. 

Be sure to select accurate information when you pre-enroll a child. Review the Child Enrollment information after the parent completes their section. If there are errors in these key fields, contact the Food Program at foodprogram@wisconsinearlychildhood.org to let us know.

The Food Program can trigger re-enrollment for that child in our database to permit you and the parent to make changes to that Child Enrollment and submit an updated, accurate form. 

REWARD Stipends Available!  

We want to make sure you know about an important opportunity for Wisconsin early childhood educators: salary support through WECA’s REWARD Wisconsin Stipend Program. There’s no better time than right now to apply. Share this with your deserving staff as well!  

FRPL Income Guidelines 

https://www.cacfp.org/income-eligibility/#tab-2 

Test Yourself Answers  

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