You are receiving this newsletter because you are enrolled in the WECA Food Program.
July 2022 | View as Webpage
Your Monthly News & Updates
Stay connected: Check out our current staff directory here.
National Day in July!


July 3rd-National Eat Your Beans Day

Read Sopa de frijoles/Bean Soup (Argueta, 2009) a bilingual poem and The Cool Bean (Jory, 2019)
Happy Anniversary! CACFP Anniversaries in July
5 years: Teirra Johnson, Ruth Stephens
10 years: Debria Hunter
15 years: Sondra Jordan, Nikki McNeal
30 years: Carol Rae

We celebrate your long commitment to serving nutritious meals and snacks to the children in your care!
Welcome to Our New Providers
CACFP participation is associated with providing high-quality child care. We celebrate this sign of professionalism!
  • Mia in Milwaukee
  • Chiquita in Milwaukee
  • Kadeidra in Milwaukee
  • Sandra in Milwaukee
  • Lynette in Milwaukee
  • Demario in Milwaukee
  • Heather in Phillips
  • Sandy in Orfordville
  • Judith in Chippewa Falls
Some of My Enrolled Children are Yellow in CACFP.Net! What Can I Do?
Electronic Re-enrollment
Formerly-enrolled children who now appear in yellow need to be re-enrolled! This is the process that helps the WECA Food Program capture current information, including updated address and phone number, for example, for your child care children and fulfills an annual mandate for a Food Program sponsorship by Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Questions about re-enrollment? This video will help:
  • Re-enrollment will be required 365 days from the date the parent signed the child’s enrollment form.
  • Children who appear in yellow in CACFP during a calendar month must be re-enrolled by midnight on the 5th of the next month.
  • Make sure to review the information on the child re-enrollment form prior to sending it to the child’s parent and again after the parent has signed.
  • Is the child PO (provider’s own) or RR (related resident)? Selecting this incorrectly is a common error.
  • Late re-enrollment is considered provider error, and provider error is not adjustable.

If re-enrollment is not completed on time, the Food Program makes no guarantee of payment of that child’s meals and snacks.
Ask the Food Program
Question: Can I claim a picnic lunch or snack served to my child care children on a field trip?

Answer: Absolutely!

Don’t forget to:
  • Notify your Area Coordinator before 7 a.m. that you will be away during your regulated child care hours of operation.
  • Provide all the required components for a creditable meal or snack at the time of service.
  • Plan to keep hot food hot and cold food cold!
New CACFP Crediting Handbook
Team Nutrition just released the new Crediting Handbook! Find and review it here.
Advancing Equity in Wisconsin's Early Education Workforce
Early childhood educators, help advance a diverse and representative early childhood workforce in Wisconsin at all levels by participating in an equity study. It seeks to elevate the voices and lived experiences of early educators who identify as BIPOC – Black, Indigenous or Person of Color. Learn more about the study and how to participate here or by contacting Toshiba Adams, Ph.D./Leader Researcher at EquityInWIECE@gmail.com. Para más información o para participar en este estudio, comuníquese con Olga Neira en oneira@wisconsinearlychildhood.org.
WECA Conference: Updates
We are excited to share WECA Virtual Conference updates with you: The keynote speakers for this year’s event have been announced! The lineup will provide thought-provoking, engaging and meaningful sessions that set the tone for a dynamic 2022 conference through the theme, “Cultivating Connections.” We are pleased to have a range of voices and perspectives on topics affecting early childhood educators and the early care and education field. For more on each speaker and their presentations, click here

Conference registration is set to open in July. Check your inbox for updates!
For more information on this year’s conference, visit our website.
Power of Advocacy
Signatures were recently collected to be added to a letter for Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to encourage her support of child care in the federal reconciliation bill. The proposal, spearheaded by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) would increase funding to the existing Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Head Start programs. The letter urges Senator Baldwin to fully endorse including the Murray-Kaine proposal in the bill, which would allow Wisconsin to support an additional 24,000 children from low-income backgrounds.

Thank you to those in our networks who signed the petition and sent letters for each action! Your personal and/or program’s signature and related support of these critical child care investments are vital for Wisconsin providers and families of young children.

Want to stay informed on advocacy actions? Sign up for the Raising Wisconsin Advocacy Digest and Advocacy Alerts! You’ll receive timely and relevant updates, action alerts, research and more.
Power of Berries
Berries are in season! Why should we eat them? They are low in calories, high in fiber, packed with nutrients, and they are DELICIOUS! Check out these five ways to enjoy them.

Follow this link to the recipe for Blueberry Baked Oatmeal and more detailed nutrition information about the mighty little blueberry!

Or, whip up this no-cook, summery recipe for Elmo’s Strawberry Pops from CACFP! If you are new to cooking with kids, this is a simple recipe to try.
NEW: CACFP Vegetable and Fruit Snack Menu
Looking for some new snack ideas? Look no further! This awesome tool from CACFP provides a month of sample snacks, together with easy recipes.
Vegetable ‘Best Practice’
Provide at least one serving from each of the vegetable subgroups per week.
USDA Milk Requirements
The USDA fluid milk requirements are developed to ensure that children receive the nutrients they need to grow and develop. Remember: 2% milk is NOT reimbursable.
Grain/Oz Equivalents
Need clarification of the Grain/oz equivalents? Look here for the English and Spanish charts and worksheets:
CACFP Infant Meal Pattern and Infant Grains Chart
“CACFP infant meal pattern encourages delaying the introduction of solid food until the infant is 6 months… Once an infant is developmentally ready to eat foods, including infants younger than 6 months, programs are required to offer them to the infant.”

Reminder: These foods are NOT creditable for infants:
  • Soy yogurt
  • Tofu
  • Cheese food or spread
Feeding From Birth to 23 Months
International Food Information Council shares this resource about child feeding in the infant and toddler years.
Signs an Infant is Developmentally Ready for Solid Foods
Is your child care infant ready for solid foods? Introducing solid foods at the proper time is important. Here are some guidelines for you and the child’s parents.
Breastfed Babies Welcome Here!
Child care providers have a unique opportunity to support parents of breastfeeding infants. These great tools from USDA are full of helpful information for expectant moms, parents of breastfeeding infants and for child care providers:
If possible, provide a clean, quiet space for nursing mothers to feed their infants on site.

DID YOU KNOW: “If a mother breastfeeds her child at your child care home, you may claim that milk as part of a reimbursable meal as long as you provide all other required food components.” (Feeding Infants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, 2019)
WIC Rates
The WIC Rate chart is available here. New rates will go into effect July 1, 2022 – July 30, 2023. Providers should make WIC information available to each of their child care families.
Nutrition Education Series: Free and Virtual
Common Threads has online classes designed to help children and adults increase their knowledge of nutrition – and lead healthier lives! This is a great resource.

Note: Programs available at Common Threads do NOT substitute for the required annual Food Program nutrition training
Discovering New Foods
Curious about nopales, or looking for a new food to try? This great resource from CalFresh is full of information and ideas.
ⓒ2022 EatFresh. California Department of Social Service
Meal Component Quiz
Does an avocado credit as a fruit or vegetable? Can you credit cream cheese in the CACFP? See if you're a CACFP meal pattern component guru with this quiz from USDA Team Nutrition.
Paper Menu Templates are for Emergencies
Paper menu templates are a record-keeping tool for emergency situations. The WECA Food Program is an online claiming program. Menu and attendance should be recorded online daily.
NEW NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT, The Federal Food Program and Civil Rights
Civil rights are the rights of personal liberty guaranteed by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution and the Acts of Congress. The goals of civil rights include:
  • Equal rights for applicants and beneficiaries.
  • Knowledge of the rights and responsibilities for applicants and beneficiaries.
  • Elimination of illegal barriers that prevent or deter anyone from receiving benefits.
  • Dignity and respect for all.

You must offer all children who attend your family child care home equal access to the benefits of the Food Program, including:
  • Providing the Food Program in a nondiscriminatory manner.
  • Distributing (or posting) the “Building for the Future” (Parent letter) to all newly-enrolled families.
  • Giving a Parent/Provider Formula Agreement to a family of each newly-enrolled infant.
  • Referring all civil rights complaints to the WECA Food Program.

USDA recently updated their nondiscrimination statement. The current statement can be found here.

Use the current non-discrimination statement, including the complaint-filing procedure, when you mention (or imply) the Child and Adult Care Food program or USDA in your child care program materials. This includes your policies, newsletters, any printed or online advertising, and if you have one, a website. At a minimum, the statement or a link to it must be included on your home page in the same font size as your other materials.

If there is not enough space for the full statement, your material must include, at a minimum, the following statement in a font size no smaller than the rest of your text: This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Do You Review Your Claim Summary Each Month?
Review your claim summaries each month to see how you were reimbursed:
Typing Foods in CACFP
What happens when you type foods into CACFP?
Each food typed by each provider at each meal or snack appears on a list that our office staff approves manually. In April 2022, more than 2,000 entries were individually approved.

Typing instead of selecting foods from the drop-down menu increases the possibility of errors on your claim: If you don’t tell us specifically what you served, we need to guess! For example, what is in the trail mix above? Your guess is better than ours!
The Food Program Thanks You!
All of us at the Food Program thank you for your patience and perseverance during the rollout of electronic re-enrollment. There were a few unanticipated challenges that our programmer has rectified.

Today and every day, the Food Program appreciates your commitment to serving nutritionally-balanced meals and snacks to the children in your care.
The Provider Connection is published by the WECA Food Program Claims Director: Pam Polenz
Provider Connection Editor: Julie Giles Questions: Call 608-240-9880 or visit our website.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider
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