Letter to Participants from LWA

Letter from LWAs to Selected Participants¹

Dear [WIC program participant]:

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is doing a national study about WIC food packages and WIC participants’ breastfeeding choices. Abt Associates Inc. has been hired to conduct the study. Researchers from Abt will be talking to 1,600 women from across the country who receive WIC and have recently had a baby. The interview is to learn about their breastfeeding choices and their experience receiving services from WIC.

We are writing to ask for permission to release your name and contact information to Abt Associates. If you do NOT want to be interviewed, please call 1-800-xxx-xxxx by [date].

If you do not call that number, then Abt Associates may call you. When they call, they will ask you to answer questions about the services you received from WIC and about how you feed your infant. The interview will take 30 minutes. They can either do the interview right then or schedule it for later when it is most convenient for you.

Taking part in the interview is voluntary. You may refuse to take part in the interview, or you may refuse to answer any questions. You will be sent a $35 gift certificate if you take part in the interview.

If you refuse to be interviewed, it will not affect your WIC benefits or any other benefits. Any information you agree to give Abt will be kept confidential, except as required by law.

We hope that you will agree to participate in the study. Your answers will help us understand how WIC services can be improved to support new mothers and their infants.

Sincerely,

[Local WIC agency representative]

1 The majority of WIC participants will be recruited on-site when they come in to be certified for services, using the participant brochure (Q and A) and the consent form. Some WIC participants, who were certified in the prior month, will be sent this letter asking for their permission to be contacted to participate in the interview.