September 8, 2008 WIC Update
SUBJECT 1: FNEP Education Partners in WIC
SUBJECT 2: WIC Approved Food List – Spanish
SUBJECT 3: August Caseload
- FNEP Education Partners in WIC: Local WIC providers in Missouri sometimes partner with Family Nutrition Education Program (FNEP) Educators from the University of Missouri Extension to provide nutrition education for WIC participants. This is an acceptable practice and works well in some areas. The following guidance is provided for FY09.
The 14 FNEP lesson plans are reviewed and approved by state WIC nutritionists. The FNEP educator must be observed by the local agency nutritionist prior to delivering the lesson. The FNEP educator must present only the information included in the lesson plan. Do not ask the FNEP educator to present additional or different information. Instruct the FNEP educator that participant questions (not addressed in the lesson plan) must be referred to the local agency nutritionist.
The FNEP educator may not:
— provide individual counseling or an individual class, only group sessions.
— code nutrition education.
FNEP lesson plans include a program evaluation that is not appropriate for using with WIC participants. The local agency nutritionist should work with the FNEP educator to include an individual participant evaluation. State nutritionists have provided a suggested evaluation and nutrition education codes for each lesson (see attached). If you have questions, contact your district nutritionist or Rita Arni at email@example.com or 573.751.8159.
- WIC Approved Food List - Spanish: The Missouri WIC Approved Food List, effective October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2009 in the Spanish language is now in the DHSS Warehouse. Please order them as needed. If you have any questions, please contact Phyllis Fuller at firstname.lastname@example.org.
- August Caseload: As with five of the previous ten months of FFY2008, at 147,443 participants, August 2008 set yet another all time record for one month, meaning more than one half of the eleven months year to date this year have been all time records. Year-to-date FFY2008 caseload is 6.1% above the same time period of FFY2007. Following are the percentage increases by category of participant:
Women = 1.9% increase
Infants = 2.5% increase
Children = 11.1% increase
Clearly the greatest growth is occurring in services to children. Many thanks to all agencies and staff who are working hard to see these additional participants. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Jim Schindler at email@example.com or Lyn Konstant at firstname.lastname@example.org.