WIC State Information Systems

This website is maintained by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), a Federal agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, responsible for administering the WIC Program at the national and regional levels.

	Additional Guidance to States on the OMB Circular A-87 Cost Allocation Exception Letter to State Exchange Grantees, Medicaid and CHIP Directors, and Health and Human Services Directors - 01-23-12 (pdf) On August 10, 2011, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) announced a time-limited, specific exception to the cost allocation requirements set forth in OMB Circular A-87 (Section C.3) that requires benefitting programs to pay their share of the costs associated with building State-based information technology systems. The exception allows Federally-funded human services programs to benefit from investments in the design and development of State eligibility-determination systems for State-operated Exchanges, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This letter provides additional guidance on how States may take advantage of this exception to leverage these investments including: • Important considerations to make use of the exception; • A list of allowable shared services for integrated eligibility systems to which the exception generally applies; and • Instructions to States on the APD submission process related to the exception. HHS and USDA are committed to a strong partnership with States and our Federal partners as we work together to implement the Affordable Care Act.
	Advance Planning Document (APD) Process Training The USDA FNS State Systems Office (SSO) provides training on the Advance Planning Document (APD) Process for State’s Management Information Systems projects. SSO conducted three national training sessions focusing on the APD process and related areas during the summer of 2008. The training sessions have been transformed into eight On-Demand Training videos available through links on the APD site: http://www.fns.usda.gov/apd/Training(1).htm
	Status of WIC State Systems Map (pdf) as of September 2011
	American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and WIC WIC provided funding to State agencies for management information systems, EBT pilots and other critical systems upgrades. Updated 04/05/10
	Universal EBT-MIS Interface Document Universal EBT-MIS Interface Document v. 4.1 September 2011 (pdf) This version of the Universal Interface document is under review by the Universal Interface workgroup. If you would like to participate in conference calls, request access to the shared document site and/or receive meeting minutes of the working group, you may submit a request to WICEBTTECH@fns.usda.gov .
	Updated Process for Funding WIC Management Information Systems (MIS) Through the Advanced Planning Document (APD) Process (pdf) (11/24/10) Sample Letter of Request (Attachment A) Budget Plan & Funding Sources Templates (Attachment B)
	Functional Requirements Documents (FReD)for a Model WIC System Updated January 2009. The Functional Requirements Document for a Model WIC System (FRED) provides a comprehensive description of functions that can be automated to support the WIC Program.
	WIC State Agency Model (SAM) Project (Overview) (updated April 2011) Status of SAM Project - April 2011
	Report to Congress: Planning for WIC's Future Technology Needs
	More information about EBT APD Document Library