FNS Documents & Resources

This proposed rule would amend regulations governing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to provide that hematological tests for anemia no longer be a mandatory part of each WIC applicant's certification intake process, so long as at least one nutrition risk factor is present for the applicant.

This final rule amends regulations governing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to incorporate certain nondiscretionary provisions of the Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act of 1994, enacted on Nov. 2, 1994, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, enacted on Aug. 31, 1994, the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990, enacted on Oct. 24, 1990, and the Personal Work Responsibility and Reconciliation Act of 1996, enacted on Aug. 22, 1996.

This is to provide policy regarding federal approval requirements for state development and implementation of EBT systems for the WIC program. EBT systems in the WIC program encompass a wide spectrum of functions including the automation of the food benefit issuance and redemption process as well as exchange of client data.

The purpose of this policy memorandum is to clarify federal statutory and regulatory limitations on the use of technical evaluation requirements for invitations for bid  for infant formula rebate contracts.

This rule proposes to revise both the food and the nutrition services and administration funding formulas to improve the effectiveness of WIC funds distribution now that WIC is in a relatively stable funding environment.

The WIC Nutrition Education Assessment Study was conducted by Abt Associates Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, under contract with the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The study was designed by FNS to fill several important gaps in information about the nutrition education component of the WIC Program.

The 1996 study of WIC program and participant characteristics, like PC92 and PC94, is substantially different from earlier efforts to collect data on WIC participants. PC96 employs the prototype reporting system which was developed by FNS for the collection of participant information from state WIC agencies.

This proposed rule would require WIC state agencies to award infant formula rebate contracts based on the lowest net price, allowing highest gross rebate as a basis of award only when retail prices of the different brands of infant formula vary, on average, by 5 percent or less.

This Notice announces the annual adjustments to: (1) the "national average payments, "the amount of money the federal government provides states for lunches, meal supplements and breakfasts served to children participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; (2) the "maximum reimbursement rates,'' the maximum per lunch rate from federal funds that a state can provide a school food authority for lunches served to children participating in the National School Lunch Program; and (3) the rate of reimbursement for a half-pint of milk served to non-needy children in a school or institution which participates in the Special Milk Program for Children.

This proposed rule would amend regulations governing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children to implement a mandate of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which requires the disqualification of WIC vendors who are disqualified from the Food Stamp Program.