You are receiving this newsletter because you are enrolled in the WECA Food Program. |
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Your monthly news & updates |
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The Food Program is no Longer Accepting Scannable Child Enrollment Forms
All children must be enrolled online in CACFP.Net by June 5. Please keep a copy of each Child Enrollment form either online or in a paper copy. You must be able to locate these copies when WECA, DPI (Department of Public Instruction) or USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) asks to see them.
Tier Renewal Emails Will Go Out Thursday, July 1
Every income eligibility determination expires on June 30. Watch your email for the new tier renewal information, which will be emailed on July 1. If you don’t receive tier information by July 16, email Margaret.
Important reminders about tier applications:
- Remember that the deadline for a July 1 effective date is always July 31.
- USDA does not allow adjustments for late or missing paperwork/documentation.
- It’s your responsibility to submit all required forms and documentation by the deadline.
USDA Announces Nationwide Waivers for School Year 2021-2022
Recently USDA announced the following waiver for CACFP.
- Child care homes can receive the Tier 1 reimbursement for all meals and snacks regardless of their location.
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Your Required Provider Training Was Due on 5/31/21
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Email Us Anytime!
Remember that you can email the WECA Food Program anytime, night or day, weekends or holidays. It’s a good way to reach out to us, especially if you prefer an answer in writing.
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Never Serve the Same Food Twice at the Same Meal Service
Do not serve and enter the same food twice at the same meal service. For example, stewed tomatoes and tomato juice are the same food, tomatoes.
In this case, serve and enter a different vegetable, or fruit so you won’t lose reimbursement for serving the same food twice.
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Parent and Provider Resources |
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Don’t Forget! We Need Your Updated Regulation |
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Remember to fax or email us a copy of your updated regulation as soon as you get it. We don’t automatically get those.
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Do We Have Your Correct Email Address?
If we don’t have your correct email address, you can miss out on notifications, such as tier renewal letters and other information that can have a direct impact on your child care business.
To change your email address, log into CACFP.Net and choose Changes from the menu bar at the top of the page. Then select Providers Changes, complete the required information and click Submit.
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Springtime Coloring Page
Create a beautiful spring scene with this color-by-numbers activity page. You can also use the page to teach children about different types of flowers that they might see blooming in your areas, such as tulips, daffodils, or bellflowers. Download the Page (National CACFP Sponsor’s Association, www.cacfp.org April 27, 2021)
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Meat Items Creditable With a CN Label or PFS |
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Shelf-stable, dried, and semi-dried meat, poultry and seafood items, such as beef jerky or summer sausage can now be credited as Meat on the food program. However, these items are only creditable if you have a CN (Child Nutrition) label or a PFS (Product Formulation Statement) on file as documentation.

Your area coordinator must review the item’s label (or statement) if she observes the food being fed at a home visit. If you don’t have the correct documentation, or if the item doesn’t meet USDA portion-size and/or nutrition requirements, she must deduct that meal service. That’s USDA policy.
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What’s a CN Label? What’s a PFS?
It is your responsibility to obtain the required documentation and keep it on file. Your area coordinator must review it if she observes any of these foods being fed during a home visit. If you have any questions, contact your area coordinator.
If the product doesn’t meet USDA portion-size/nutrition requirements, or if you don’t have any required documentation, the item will be deducted. That’s USDA policy.
- Either the CN label or PFS must be on file for all store-bought combination foods and for any other foods as required, or you cannot be paid for those foods.
- Some foods may not have a CN label or a PFS; if you don’t’ have the correct documentation, do not serve the food.
- The PFS may be kept in the place of the CN label.
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Imitation Crab is Creditable as a Meat
Imitation crab (surimi) can be served and reimbursed as a Meat on the food program. Surimi is made from fish (usually Pollock) that’s minced into a paste, blended with other ingredients, and then heated and pressed into shapes that look like crab meat. It’s available in chunks, shreds, and flakes, and can be served “as-is” in salads, sushi-style rolls and sandwiches, and more.
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Surimi doesn’t have the nutrients of crab meat. The main ingredient is fish paste and the second ingredient is usually water. Check the ingredients label, as the product may contain monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Surimi Meat/meat alternate
4.4 ounces 1.5 ounces of M/MA
30 ounces 1.0 ounces of M/MA
1.0 ounces .25 ounces of M/MA
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Do You Offer Water Throughout the Day? |
You are required to offer water to children throughout the day; you may just ask whether they would like the water at different times during the day. Help very young children understand your question by showing them a cup or a pitcher when you offer them water. |
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Water does not have to be self-serve, you can make it available in a variety of ways.
- Have cups available next to the kitchen sink faucet.
- Have pitchers of water and cups set out.
- Or simply provide water when it’s requested.
Water must be available during a meal or a snack, but remember:
- Water doesn’t replace milk
- Water is not part of a reimbursable meal.
Be careful not to serve too much water before and during mealtime so kids will have room for the required foods and beverages. Serve water at snack when no other beverage is served. You can also serve water in place of less healthy beverages that are served outside of snacks and meals.
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Popcorn is Creditable as a Whole-Grain Rich Food
Popcorn can be credited as a whole grain-rich food on the food program.
However, be aware that the required amount of popcorn may be too much for your children in those cases, WI DPI advises that you supplement the popcorn with another creditable grain item. For example, serve popcorn in a trail mix along with pretzels and an approved specific cereal. Remember to list each item in the trail mix.
Popcorn may be counted as an ingredient in store-bought foods or in foods prepared at home. It must be present in the minimum creditable amount. To be credited in a store-bought food, you must keep that product’s CN label or PFS on file.
- Caramel corn or kettle corn are grain-based desserts and cannot be credited as a whole-grain-rich food.
- Toppings like salt, butter, and cheese may be used, but you are encouraged to limit these and choose healthier options.
- Remember that popcorn can be a choking hazard for very young children.
Popped Popcorn Whole-grain equivalent
Âľ cup (.25 ounce) ÂĽ ounce equivalent
1 ½ cups (.5 ounce) ½ ounce equivalent
3 cups (1 ounce) 1-ounce equivalent
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.
The current federal nondiscrimination statement must be displayed on any printed materials that you make available to the public if those materials mention or imply USDA and/or the Child and Adult Care Food Program. This includes your website if you have one. At the very least, the statement to the link (or a link to it) must be included on your website’s home page in the same font size as your 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.
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Protecting yourself with COVID-19 vaccination helps protect the children you care about. Join Dear Pandemic and the Early Care & Education Coalition of Wisconsin for a series of free webinars and Q&A sessions about COVID-19 & vaccines.
Protegerse con la vacuna COVID-19 ayuda a proteger a los niños quecuida. Únase a Dear Pandemic y a Early Care & Education Coalition of Wisconsin para una serie depresentaciones web gratuitas y sesiones de preguntas y respuestas sobre el COVID-19 y las vacunas.
Thursday, June 3, 1-2 p.m.
Monday, July 12, Noon-1 p.m.
Registry credit will be available.
Jueves, 6/3, 1-2pm
¡NUEVO! El crédito de registro estará disponible.
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The Provider Connection is published by the WECA Food Program Claims Director: Pam Polenz
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider |
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Explore more of what WECA has to offer:
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