State and Local WIC-Screener, Staff, Personnel

OMB Approval No. 0584-XXXX

Approval Expires: XX/XX/20XX

Appendix LL.1

Feeding My Baby Study

State WIC Agency Key Informant Interview Guide

Thank you for taking the time for this interview. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service has contracted with Westat to conduct a study of WIC participants’ infant feeding practices, attitudes, and behaviors. Altarum Institute is working with Westat on this study and we are conducting interviews to collect information about WIC program policies and operations. Altarum is a health and nutrition policy research and consulting institute and our work focuses on helping to improve the health and nutrition status of children, families, and adults.

The findings from this study will include not only outcomes related to the health and nutrition of infants and toddlers, but also information on how nutrition education and breastfeeding support is being implemented in WIC and how it relates to infant and toddler feeding practices. The findings from this study will inform national policy, and will be useful to FNS, the WIC community, and WIC researchers in better understanding the behaviors and attitudes of participants and for identifying ways to improve services

The purpose of this interview is to collect information about your policies and practices with a focus on nutrition education and breastfeeding promotion and support. In preparation for this interview, we have reviewed your State Plan, and we will be following up with specific questions to gather more information related to the study objectives.

The information you share will be used in the study to better understand the relationship between the WIC program services and features and decisions WIC participants make with regard to infant and toddler feeding. This interview will consist of a series of open and closed questions. Please answer to the best of your knowledge and ability. If you do not know an answer, or are unsure, we can discuss how best to find the correct answer and follow up later. All of your answers will be held in confidence, and nothing said today will be able to be identified back to you in any reports prepared for this study.

Our interview shouldn’t last longer than 1 hour. Do you have any questions before we begin? Let’s get started.

I. Staff: Qualifications, Training and Linguistic Competency

First, I’d like to begin with a set of questions regarding state policies and practices related to local agency staff qualifications, training and linguistic competency.

1. For local staff members who are authorized to be a Competent Professional Authority (CPA) in your State, is there an education requirement?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes]) What is the requirement?

2. Are local staff required to complete a State-Agency training in order to be authorized as a CPA or is there a required process that local programs must follow to train CPAs?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] What training/process is required?

2. [If yes] How is the training delivered?

3. [If yes] How frequently is the training offered?

4. [If yes] What are the total hours of the training provided?

5. [If yes] Is the training program competency-based?

• Yes

• No

3. Do you have a new employee training program provided by the State?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] Please describe the new employee training.

4. Other than continuing education requirements for RDs, RNs, and IBCLCs, is continuing education required of any local staff who provide nutrition and breastfeeding education?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes,] Which staff are required to receive continuing education?

5. Are staff who provide nutrition and breastfeeding education to high risk participants required to complete any specific training?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] Which staff are required to have this training to provide high-risk nutrition education?

2. [If yes] What topics are covered in the required trainings?

3. [If yes] How is the training delivered?

6. Does your State Agency provide mentoring support to local staff to help them improve nutrition education and breastfeeding services?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] What types of mentoring support does your State Agency provide?

2. [If yes] Is there a dedicated staff person at the State level responsible for providing mentoring support to local staff?

• Yes

• No

7. As part of your VENA implementation, has your State provided training on learner-centered education or participant-centered services?

• Yes

• No

a. [If yes] Please describe the training including whether it was provide to staff in all local programs or in a portion of local programs.

8. Does your State sponsor or collaborate in a dietetic internship program?

• Yes

• No

Now I have a few questions about how services are provided to participants who do not speak English.

9. Do any local sites in your State hire bilingual staff for certification, nutrition education, or breastfeeding support services?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

1. [If yes] Does the State require or encourage that bilingual staff complete a certification process to verify their language capabilities?

• Yes, required

• Yes, encouraged

• No

10. Do any local sites in your State use interpreters in addition to or instead of bilingual staff for certification, nutrition education, or breastfeeding support services?

• Yes

• No

a. [If yes] Does the State provide training to local staff on how to use of an interpreter?

• Yes

• No

2. [If yes] Does the State require interpreters to complete any WIC-specific training?

• Yes

• No

11. Please tell me if local staff are encouraged or required by the State to use a language line if bi-lingual staff or interpreters are unavailable?

• Yes, encouraged

• Yes, required

• No, language line not used

• None of these

II. Education

Now I would like to ask just a few questions about your State’s policies related to providing nutrition education at the local sites.

12. Has your State implemented the one year child certification period?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] What changes did you make to your nutrition education plan?

2. [If no] Do you anticipate implementing the 1 year child certification in the future?

• Yes Planned implementation date: ____________ Anticipated changes to nutrition education:

• No

13. Does your State have a required protocol or script for local programs to use for nutrition education during certification appointments or do local programs develop their own protocol and approach?

• State required protocol/script

• Local programs develop protocol/approach

a. If there is a State required protocol/script, please describe it and explain how local staff are trained to use it.

14. With regard to secondary education contacts, does your State have protocols for local programs to use or do local programs develop their own protocol and approach?

• State protocols

• Local programs develop protocols/approach

1. If there are State protocols for secondary education, please describe and explain how local staff are trained to use them.

III. Breastfeeding: Peer Counselors and Support

Now I would like to ask you a question about the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor program in your State.

15. Does your State establish qualifications for breastfeeding peer counselors?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] What are the qualifications?

IV. Breastfeeding: Breast Pumps

Next, I have some questions about breast pumps.

16. What types of breast pumps are available to WIC participants through local sites?

17. Does the State have policies for local sites regarding providing breast pumps to WIC participants?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] What is the State’s policy or criteria for providing breast pumps to participants?

2. [If yes] What is the State’s policy on the education provided to mothers who receive breast pumps?

VII. Food Package

Let’s now turn briefly to your State’s food package choices and policies.

18. In addition to your State’s authorized food list, what types of materials does the State provide for local programs to use to educate participants on the WIC foods?

19. Please describe your State’s policy for providing formula in the first month (30 days of life) for breastfed infants?

20. What accommodation has your State made in food selections for cultural or religious dietary practices?

Okay, I have one last question for you.

21. Are there any special statewide initiatives related to nutrition education and breastfeeding services that you’d like to tell us about?

• Yes

• No

1. [If yes] Please describe the initiatives.

That concludes the questions I have for you. Is there anything that I haven’t asked about related to infant and toddler nutrition and breastfeeding services that you feel is important for us to consider?

Again, thank you for taking the time to complete this interview.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.  The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-XXXX.  The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.