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37.59.102    DEFINITIONS

Unless otherwise indicated, the following definitions apply throughout this chapter:

(1) "Administrative and program services costs" means those direct and indirect costs, exclusive of food costs, as defined in 7 CFR 246.14(c) , which the department determines to be necessary to support local agency program operations. Administrative and program services costs include, but are not limited to, the costs of program administration, start-up, monitoring, auditing, the development of and accountability for food delivery systems, nutrition education, outreach, certification, and developing and printing food instruments.

(2) "Affirmative action plan" means that portion of the department plan which describes how the program will be initiated and expanded within the department's jurisdiction in accordance with 7 CFR 246.4(a) .

(3) "Breastfeeding women" means women up to 1 year postpartum who are breastfeeding their infants.

(4) "Caseload" means the number of persons certified by the local agencies, eligible and participating in the WIC program at any point in time. Persons certified eligible but wait-listed are not considered to be participating in the WIC program, and therefore are not included when the department assigns caseload limits or tallying caseload being carried at a point in time.

(5) "Categorical eligibility" means persons who meet the definitions of pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, or infants or children.

(6) "Certification" means the application of criteria and procedures to assess and document each applicant's eligibility for the program.

(7) "Children" means persons who have had their 1st birthday but have not yet attained their 5th birthday.

(8) "Client" means a WIC program participant.

(9) "Clinic" means a facility where applicants are certified.

(10) "Competent professional authority" means an individual on the staff of the local agency authorized to determine nutritional risk and prescribe supplemental foods. The following persons are the only persons the department may authorize to serve as a competent professional authority: physicians, nutritionists (bachelor's or master's degree in nutritional sciences, community nutrition, clinical nutrition, dietetics, public health nutrition, or home economics with emphasis in nutrition) , dietitians, registered nurses, physician's assistants (certified by the national committee on certification of physician's assistants, or certified by the state medical certifying authority) , or state or local medically trained health officials. This definition also applies to an individual who is not on the staff of the local agency but who is qualified to provide data upon which nutritional risk determinations are made by a competent professional authority on the staff of the local agency.

(11) "Days" means calendar days.

(12) "Disqualification" means the act of ending the program participation of a participant, authorized food vendor, or local agency, whether as a punitive sanction or for administrative reasons.

(13) "Dual participation" means simultaneous participation in the program in more than one WIC clinic.

(14) "Fair hearing" means the procedure through which an individual may appeal a department or local decision which results in denial of program participation, or suspension or termination from the program.

(15) "Family" means a group of related or non-related individuals who are not residents of an institution but who are living together as one economic unit.

(16) "Food costs" means the costs of supplemental foods, determined in accordance with 7 CFR 246.14(b) .

(17) "Food delivery system" means the method used by the department and local agencies to provide supplemental foods to participants.

(18) "Food instrument" means a voucher, check, coupon, or other document which is used by a participant to obtain supplemental foods.

(19) "Food package" means supplemental foods prescribed by a competent professional authority for a WIC participant to meet demonstrated nutritional needs.

(20) "Food vendor" means a local grocer, dairy, or other merchant who, through a signed agreement with the local agency, provides WIC foods in exchange for the WIC voucher.

(21) "Health services" means ongoing, routine pediatric and obstetric care (such as infant and child care and prenatal and postpartum examinations) or referral for treatment.

(22) "Infants" means persons under 1 year of age.

(23) "Initial visit" means the first time a person visits a WIC clinic to request program benefits, whether by an in-person inquiry or by a visit for an appointment previously established by telephone.

(24) "Local agency" means:

(a) a public or private, nonprofit health or human service agency which provides health services, either directly or through contract, in accordance with 7 CFR 246.5;

(b) an Indian health service unit;

(c) an Indian tribe, band, or group recognized by the United States department of the interior which operates a health clinic or is provided health services by an Indian health service unit; or

(d) an intertribal council or group that is an authorized representative of Indian tribes, bands, or groups recognized by the United States department of the interior, which operates a health clinic or is provided health services by an Indian health service unit.

(25) "Members of populations" means persons with a common special nutritional need who do not necessarily reside in a specific geographic area, such as off-reservation Indians or migrant farmworkers and their families.

(26) "Migrant farmworker" means an individual whose principal employment is in agriculture on a seasonal basis, and who has been so employed within the last 24 months, and who establishes, for the purposes of such employment, a temporary abode.

(27) "Monthly participation" means a total number of clients actually receiving benefits in any month.

(28) "Nonprofit agency" means a private agency which is exempt from income tax under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.

(29) "Nutrition counseling" means individualized professional guidance to assist a person in adjusting his/her daily food consumption to meet his/her health needs.

(30) "Nutrition education" means individual or group education sessions and the provision of information and educational materials designed to improve health status, achieve positive change in dietary habits, and emphasize relationships between nutrition and health, all in keeping with the individual's personal, cultural, and socioeconomic preferences.

(31) "Nutrition services" means nutrition intervention planned for and provided to a client, such as assessment of nutritional health status, counseling, provision of nutrition information, prescription of a food package, referral to other health, financial, or social services, and evaluation of change in behavior and nutritional health status.

(32) "Nutritional risk" means:

(a) detrimental or abnormal nutritional conditions detectable by biochemical or anthropometric measurements;

(b) their documented nutritionally related medical conditions;

(c) dietary deficiencies that impair or endanger health; or

(d) conditions that predispose persons to inadequate nutritional patterns or nutritionally related medical conditions.

(33) "Nutritionist" means a professional who meets the academic and experience requirements described in 37-25-102, MCA.

(34) "Participants" means pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, infants, and children who are receiving supplemental foods or food instruments under the program.

(35) "Participation" means the number of persons who have received supplemental foods or food instruments during a reporting period.

(36) "Postpartum women" means women up to 6 months after termination of pregnancy.

(37) "Potential participants" means persons not certified on WIC but who are applying for WIC services, or who have been determined by some statistical means to be eligible for WIC services.

(38) "Poverty income guidelines" means the poverty income guidelines prescribed by the United States department of health and human services. These guidelines are adjusted annually by the department of health and human services, with each annual adjustment effective July 1 of each year. The poverty income guidelines prescribed by the department of health and human services are used for the Montana WIC program.

(39) "Pregnant women" means women determined to have one or more embryos or fetuses in utero.

(40) "Priority system" means the ranking applied to persons on a waiting list to ensure that those at highest nutritional risk are the first ones chosen to fill vacancies.

(41) "Program" means the special supplemental food program for women, infants and children (WIC) , authorized by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended.

(42) "Reallocation" means the process by which the USDA monies are moved from one state agency which is spending at a lower rate and given to another state agency that is able to spend the money more rapidly due to larger caseloads and a similar process used by the department among local agencies.

(43) "Registered dietitian" means a professional who meets the academic and experience requirements described in 37-21-302, MCA.

(44) "Retail purchase system" means a system in which the participant obtains WIC foods through an authorized food vendor, i.e., grocer or dairy.

(45) "Satellite" means a WIC program operated by another WIC program which has primary administrative responsibility for a program and contracts directly with the department. A satellite differs from a site in that it is located outside the defined project area, i.e., county or reservation.

(46) "Site" means a single clinic offering services to WIC participants within a defined project area that may contain more than one clinic.

(47) "Staffing pattern" means the ratio of WIC staff needed to the number of participants served.

(48) "State plan" means the "1990 State Plan for Montana's Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) " (October 1989 edition) , a plan of program operation and administration that describes the manner in which the department intends to implement and operate all aspects of program administration within its jurisdiction in accordance with 7 CFR 246.4.

(49) "Supplemental foods" means those foods containing nutrients determined to be beneficial for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children, as prescribed by 7 CFR 246.10.

(50) "Voucher" means a check-like document which is traded by WIC participants for food at their local food vendors.

(51) "Waiting list" means a list of applicants waiting to be accepted in the WIC program when vacancies occur.

(52) The department hereby incorporates herein by reference the following:

(a) 7 CFR 246.4, which is a federal agency WIC regulation concerning state agency program operations and administration;

(b) 7 CFR 246.5, which is a federal agency WIC regulation concerning selection of local agencies;

(c) 7 CFR 246.10, which is a federal agency WIC regulation concerning the supplemental foods prescribed for eligible persons;

(d) 7 CFR 246.14(b) and (c) , which is a federal agency WIC regulation concerning the allowable administrative and program services costs;

(e) 7 CFR Part 3015, which is a federal agency regulation containing the USDA's uniform federal assistance regulations. Part 3015 implements the policies established by the office of management and budget (OMB) in circulars A-21, A-87, A-102, A-110, A-122, and A-128, as well as OMB Guidance on Implementation of the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977;

(f) the poverty income guidelines contained in volume 54 of the Federal Register, issue 89 (May 10, 1989) ;

(g) section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. 1771, et seq., as amended; and

(h) the "1990 State Plan for Montana's Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) " (October 1989 edition) , which is a comprehensive summary of applicable federal regulations, procedures, and forms used by the department.

(i) Copies of the above materials may be obtained from the Department of Public Health and Human Services, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children (WIC) , P.O. Box 202951, Helena, MT 59620-2951.

History: Sec. 50-1-202, MCA; IMP, Sec. 50-1-202, MCA; NEW, 1988 MAR p. 1528, Eff. 7/15/88; AMD, 1990 MAR p. 227, Eff. 1/26/90; TRANS, from DHES, 2001 MAR p. 982.

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