State & Local WIC Agencies

State Interview Questions: Post-implementation (P2)

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OMB Clearance Number: 0584-NEW Expiration Date: xx/xx/2011

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-NEW. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 60 minutes per response. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of time estimates or suggestions for improving this form, please contact: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research & Analysis, Room 1014, Alexandria, VA 22302.

ello, my name is [INTERVIEWER]. Thank you for taking time today to help us. I spoke with you a few months ago over the phone and want to follow-up now that your State has implemented the WIC food package changes. You may recall I work for Abt Associates Inc., which is conducting a study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to learn about the recent changes to the food packages for postpartum women and infants.

The information will help us understand how the recent food package changes were implemented in your State. Your input is important to help us understand the different issues surrounding these changes and how your State agency addressed them.

The interview will take approximately one hour. Your responses will not be attributed to you but will be merged with responses from other interviews we conduct in your State to create an overall summary of the implementation process. Do you have any questions before I begin?

Changes in State Policies/Practice on the Partial Breastfeeding Package

1. Have you studied the variations in food package issuance across LWAs since the Interim Rule was implemented? To what degree do you see local variation in the proportion of WIC participants in local WIC agencies who receive the different packages? Is this different than before the Interim Rule was implemented? Is there variation among partially breastfeeding mothers in how much formula they receive? What do you think are the reasons for this variation?

Implementing the New Regulations

2. What systems did you change to implement the new food packages for postpartum women and infants?

3. Were food package changes phased in for different participant groups or were they done all at once? If they were phased in, how was this done?

4. What was the timeline for the making the changes? How close were you able to stay to your planned timeline?

5. Was additional staffing necessary at the State level to implement the Interim Rule? If so, was a new position created to deal exclusively with implementation efforts? If no, which staff members had responsibility for implementation?

6. What were the biggest challenges to making these changes?

7. Were there “temporary” changes that you made during the implementation that may affect your administrative data on food packages choices of WIC participants? If yes, please describe.

8. As you phased in the changes, were there any “glitches” that affected the process of women being assigned and obtaining specific food packages? Please describe the issue and how and when it was resolved. Approximately how many WIC participants did it affect?

9. What was the planned role of the LWAs in implementing the food package changes? What, if any, decisions did they make related to implementing the food package changes? When implementation occurred, did they have the role that was planned? If not, why not?

Support to Local WIC Agencies

10. What was the general reaction to the changes in food packages among local WIC staff in your State? What were their main questions and concerns? How did you go about addressing questions and concerns (additional training or meetings, changes in written materials, additional communication, etc.)?

11. What kind of administrative burden did LWAs experience related to implementing the changes for the first month postpartum? Did you take any steps to try to ease the burden? If so, what?

12. Does LWA staff have any specific concerns about the implementation of the new food packages for breastfeeding and partially breastfeeding mothers and their infants? What are their main questions or concerns?

13. Was there any training for local WIC directors and other staff? If so, what type of training?

For local WIC Directors:

For local WIC staff:

a. Did the intended audience want more training?

Local WIC Directors:

Local WIC staff:

b. Was the intended audience satisfied with the training?

Local WIC Directors:

Local WIC staff:

c. Who conducted the training for the following staff?

WIC Directors:

Local WIC staff:

14. In addition to training, what, if any, kinds of other assistance and support were given to local agencies (additional funding, training, computer programming, additional equipment, etc)? Did this vary from what was planned? If yes, how and why?

Information for WIC Participants

15. Did the State WIC agency develop written guidelines about how to describe the food package changes to WIC participants? If so, please describe the guidelines.

16. Did the State WIC agency provide written materials (brochures/posters/etc.) to describe the food package changes? (Collect copies)

17. How were these materials used? When did they start being used (before/after the new food package implementation)? Did LWAs develop and use additional materials about the food package changes?

Effects of Food Package Changes for Postpartum Women and their Infants

18. Do you know how WIC participants in your State have reacted to the new food packages? Did these reactions change over time? If so, how?

19. To what extent do you think that the changes in the food packages influence the decisions of WIC participants in your State about breastfeeding initiation? Breastfeeding intensity? Breastfeeding duration? Why do you think this?

20. To what extent do you believe that changes in food packages have influenced mothers in your State who would have received a modified full formula package under the previous rule because they were partially breastfeeding? What proportion of partially breastfeeding women do you think are now taking the full formula package? Why do you think this?

21. Are you tracking the effects of food package changes on women’s breastfeeding behavior or food package receipt? What are you finding?

22. How have State policies regarding assessments been modified, if at all, to measure the effects of the food package changes?

Abt Associates Inc. State Interview Questions_P2 3