State, Local, or Tribal Government Responsive

Appendix F.1

WIC State agency staff interview protocol

OMB #0584-XXXX

Public Burden Statement

This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service to better understand the implementation and impact of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) modernization efforts on WIC State and local agencies, WIC vendors, and WIC participants. This is a voluntary collection and FNS will use the information to monitor and strengthen WIC program modernization efforts. This collection does not request any personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974. 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-[xxxx]. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 60 minutes (1.0 hours) 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. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Evidence, Analysis, and Regulatory Affairs Office, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22306, ATTN: PRA (0584-xxxx). Do not return the completed form to this address.

Expiration Date: XX/XX/20XX

WIC & FMNP MODERNIZATION EVALUATION

State Agency Staff Interview Protocol

NOTE: This protocol is a guide, not a script. It has been developed to use with staff at State agencies. Interviewers will need to ask questions that are relevant to the participant and tailor or add probes as needed to further explore the responses provided.

A. Introduction

Hello, my name is [NAME] and I work for [Mathematica/MEF/NPI], a firm that is conducting the WIC & FMNP Modernization Evaluation in partnership with the Food and Nutrition Service, or FNS, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. FNS is working with State and local agencies (and other key partners) to modernize WIC and FMNP. The interview today is part of a study to help FNS better understand the experiences of State agencies, local agencies, vendors, and participants with implementing and participating in the WIC and FMNP modernization efforts. FNS will use this study to inform future modernization efforts. We know you are busy, and we appreciate your participation in this study!

Today we would like to learn about [STATE AGENCY NAME] and your experience and progress implementing the WIC and/or FMNP modernization grants. I will review the list of grants we have on file for [STATE AGENCY] once we begin the interview. This interview should take about one hour. Before we start, I want to let you know that participating in this interview is voluntary, and we will keep your identity private, except as required by law. You may refuse to answer any question, and you can stop the discussion at any time. There are no risks or benefits to participating in this study and interview. We can leave a copy of this consent statement with you for your records.

We will take notes over the course of the interview and, with your permission, record it for our note taking. [IF INTERVIEW IS ON A VIDEOCONFERENCE PLATFORM: we would like to audio and video record this interview]. No one outside our research team will listen to the recording or have access to the notes. We will destroy the recordings and the notes at the end of the project. You can contact the survey director, Caroline Lauver, at [EMAIL] or [PHONE] if you have any questions.

Do we have your permission to record this interview? (Yes/No) – IF YES, PRESS RECORD

Do you consent to participate in this study and interview? (Yes/No)

Do you have any questions before we start?

B. Respondent background

First, I’d like to confirm your current job position.

Interviewer instruction: confirm their job position: [JOB POSITION/TITLE] is your official job title or position, correct?

C. Grant background

Instructions for interviewers: Customize the information inside the placeholder brackets based on information learned from the document review completed before the interview.

Next, I’d like to set the stage by listing out the grants and their activities that I plan to discuss during the interview today and confirm that this list is comprehensive. Then we’ll talk about each grant in-depth, one-by-one. These are the grants and their activities I plan to discuss today:

1. [GRANT 1 NAME and activities]

1. Are there any other activities related to this grant that we didn’t mention?

2. How does your team refer to this grant?

2. [GRANT 2 NAME and activities]

1. Are there any other activities related to this grant that we didn’t mention?

2. How does your team refer to this grant?

3. [GRANT 3 NAME and activities]

1. Are there any other activities related to this grant that we didn’t mention?

2. How does your team refer to this grant?

4. ETC.

Are there any other ARPA funded modernization activities that your State agency is implementing, either as a lead or partner State agency, in the last [TIME FRAME] that I didn’t mention? The focus of today’s interview is only on activities from grants received directly from FNS and not any subgrants from other organizations. IF YES – Gather the information about each additional grant or activity they mention.

Instructions for interviewers: Ask the set(s) of questions from Section D through Section I associated with each of the activities associated with GRANT 1. After completing section I for GRANT 1, move on to GRANT 2, asking the sets of questions associated with each of the grant’s activities. Continue in this way for any additional grants. Do this for each grant that’s part of the interview. After you’ve covered all the grants and their activities, please go to Section J and ask questions about each of the waivers.

Now I’d like to talk about what implementation was like, or planning for implementation, for each of the activities associated with [GRANT 1]. [IF GRANT IS A PLANNING GRANT] – I recognize this grant focused on planning activities, not actually implementing the activities, so we will discuss this grant through a planning lens rather than an implementation lens.

D. Outreach activities

Interviewer instructions: Customize this section with the types of outreach activities the State agency implemented. We’d like to collect data about the individual outreach activities; however, when it is possible to group similar activities together—such as those that had similar timelines, tasks, etc.—do so to streamline the interview.

1. INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Start by summarizing the outreach activities the State agency is implementing, as found in the document review and discussed in Section C. Please start by giving me a high-level overview of what implementation, or planning for implementation, has looked like for the outreach activities, including what your agency has worked on so far. We are interested in outreach activities that are not part of WIC Community Innovation and Outreach (WIC CIAO)-funded subgrants.

2. Please describe why your agency decided to prioritize outreach activities as part of your modernization efforts.

1. What factors influenced your agency to select these activities? What is the need or problem these activities are addressing?

3. Was the rollout timing of each outreach activity the same throughout the State agency’s jurisdiction or did it vary by select areas? By rollout, I mean the process of conducting outreach and engagement of potential WIC participants, as distinct from the planning phase of a grant. This process could happen in phases or all at once. INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Try to obtain the month/year for each phase for each individual outreach activity (by select areas if rollout varied within the State agency’s jurisdiction).

1. [IF ROLLOUT OF AN ACTIVITY VARIED BY LOCATION] – What caused the variation in timeline for rolling out an activity? What impact did this variation have on overall implementation?

4. REACH: How many people did each outreach activity reach? Did the outreach effort cover all people [served by your agency/in the implementation area]? How many participants/clinics/local agencies/vendors were affected by these outreach activities? INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: get this information for each outreach activity.

5. INTENSITY: Thank you for already providing the start dates for the activities – have any activities ended? IF YES: When did they end? How often did [participants/clinics/local agencies/vendors] partake in or were touched by these outreach activities?

[INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION FOR REACH AND INTENSITY QUESTIONS: If the respondent doesn’t know the answers to the reach and/or intensity questions, note that you will email them a form to fill out with this information so they can consult with colleagues and background materials, as needed. Let them know you will conduct a ten-minute follow-up call within a week so they can provide you the information over the phone.]

6. What successes did you observe when implementing the outreach activities? What factors led to these successes?

7. Many agencies experienced barriers when implementing grant activities. What barriers did you experience when implementing these outreach activities? What do you think led to these difficulties?

1. What help from FNS could have improved the process? What help might still be needed?

8. How did your agency address and attempt to overcome these barriers? Were you able to overcome them?

9. In your opinion, how have these outreach activities made it easier for all different types of eligible people to learn about or join WIC?

1. [IF RELEVANT] – What languages were the outreach activities offered in? Did it vary by location? How were these languages chosen?

2. In your opinion, were the outreach activities and resources appropriate for the populations your agency serves?

10. Thinking about the outreach activities we just discussed, if you had to give advice to another agency just starting to implement these activities, how would you advise them to proceed?

E. Technology modernization activities

Interviewer instructions: Customize this section with the types of technology modernization activities the State agency implemented. We’d like to collect data about the individual technology modernization activities; however, when it is possible to group similar activities together—such as those that had similar timelines, tasks, etc.—do so to streamline the interview.

INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Summarize the technology modernization activities the State agency is implementing, as found in the document review, and discussed in Section C.

I’d like to ask you some questions about the technology modernization activities your agency implemented.

1. Please start by giving me a high-level overview of the technology modernization activities, such as what your agency has worked on so far, and what implementation, or planning for implementation, has looked like.

2. Please describe why your agency decided to prioritize technology modernization activities as part of your modernization efforts.

1. What factors influenced your agency to select these activities? What is the need or problem these activities are addressing?

3. Was the rollout timing of each technology modernization activity the same throughout the State agency’s jurisdiction or did it vary by select areas? By rollout, I mean the process of informing participants or staff and providing them access to these technology modernizations, as distinct from the planning phase of a grant. This process could happen in phases or all at once. INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Try to obtain the month and year for each phase of each individual technology modernization activity (by select areas if it varied within the State agency’s jurisdiction).

1. [IF ROLLOUT OF AN ACTIVITY VARIED BY LOCATION] – What caused the variation in timeline for rolling out an activity? What impact did this variation have on overall implementation?

2. How did you work with local agencies throughout implementation?

4. REACH: How many people did each technology modernization activity reach? Did the technology modernization activities cover all participants in the whole [agency/implementation area]? How many participants/clinics/local agencies/vendors have access to the new technology modernization activities?

5. INTENSITY: Thank you for already providing the start dates for the activities – have any activities ended? IF YES: when did they end? How often did [participants/clinics/local agencies/vendors] use or partake in the new technology modernization activities?

[INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION FOR REACH AND INTENSITY QUESTIONS: If the respondent doesn’t know the answers to the reach and/or intensity questions, note that you will email them a form to fill out with this information so they can consult with colleagues and background materials, as needed. Let them know you will conduct a ten-minute follow-up call within a week so they can provide you the information over the phone.]

6. What successes did you observe when implementing the technology modernization activities? What factors led to these successes?

7. Many agencies experienced barriers when implementing grant activities. What barriers did you experience when implementing these technology modernization activities? What do you think led to these difficulties?

8. How did your agency address and attempt to overcome these barriers? Were you able to overcome them?

1. What help from FNS could have improved the process? What help might still be needed?

9. What kinds of improvements or fixes did your agency make to the technology product, if any? What did this improvement process look like?

10. Do these technology modernization activities help address access barriers for WIC participants – such as infrastructure or language challenges? (Infrastructure challenges could include needing to travel long distances; poor internet connectivity in rural areas). IF YES – In what ways?

1. [IF RELEVANT] – What languages were the technology modernization activities offered in? Did it vary by location? How were these languages chosen?

11. Thinking about the technology modernization activities we just discussed, if you had to give advice to another agency just starting to implement these activities, how would you advise them to proceed?

F. Activities to improve shopping education and the shopping experience

Interviewer instructions: Customize this section with the types of shopping improvement activities the State agency implemented. We’d like to collect data about the individual shopping improvement activities; however, when it is possible to group similar activities together—such as those that had similar timelines, tasks, etc.—do so to streamline the interview.

I’d like to ask you some questions about the shopping improvement activities your agency implemented to help improve the overall shopping experience. This includes, but is not limited to, shopping education activities, market research, implementing new WIC-specific shopping related technology or vendor related technologies. This group of questions excludes online shopping activities. We’ll discuss those in another section.

INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Summarize the shopping experience improvement activities the State agency is implementing, as found in the document review and discussed in Section C.

1. Please start by giving me a high-level overview of the shopping improvement activities, such as what your agency has worked on so far, and what implementation, or planning for implementation, has looked like.

1. What kinds of training and support did your agency provide to vendor staff?

2. Please describe why your agency decided to prioritize shopping improvements or education activities as part of your modernization efforts.

1. Did participants experience certain shopping pain-points or difficulties that these activities were meant to address? Please describe.

2. Did the improvement activities include addressing the needs of those with limited English proficiency?

3. Was the rollout timing of each shopping improvement activity the same throughout the State agency’s jurisdiction or did it vary by select areas? Did it vary by vendor? By rollout, I mean the process of making the shopping improvements available to WIC participants and vendors, as distinct from the planning phase of a grant. This process could happen in phases or all at once. INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Try to obtain the month and year for each phase for each shopping improvement activity (by select areas if it varied within the State agency’s jurisdiction).

1. [IF ROLLOUT OF AN ACTIVITY VARIED BY LOCATION] – What caused the variation in timeline for rolling out an activity? What impact did this variation have on overall implementation?

4. REACH: How many people did each shopping improvement activity reach? Did the shopping improvement activities cover the whole [agency/implementation area]?

1. Did the improvement activities include those with limited English proficiency?

5. INTENSITY: Thank you for already providing the start dates for the activities – have any activities ended? IF YES: when did they end? How often did participants/vendors use or partake in these shopping improvement activities? [INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION FOR REACH AND INTENSITY QUESTIONS: If the respondent doesn’t know the answers to the reach and/or intensity questions, note that you will email them a form to fill out with this information so they can consult with colleagues and background materials, as needed. Let them know you will conduct a ten-minute follow-up call within a week so they can provide you the information over the phone.]

1. Was the adoption of the shopping improvement activities required or optional? IF OPTIONAL – How many vendors adopted it?

6. What successes did you observe when implementing the shopping improvement activities? What factors led to these successes?

7. Many agencies experienced barriers when implementing grant activities. What barriers did you experience when implementing these shopping improvement activities? What do you think caused these difficulties?

1. What help from FNS could have improved the process? What help might still be needed?

8. How did your agency address and attempt to overcome these barriers? How did your agency support vendors in trying to overcome difficulties they experienced? Were you able to overcome these difficulties?

9. In your opinion, how have these shopping improvement activities made it easier for all different types of people to shop with WIC benefits?

1. In what ways, if any, did shopping improvement activities work towards reducing the stigma associated with redeeming WIC benefits while shopping?

10. Thinking about the shopping improvement activities we just discussed, if you had to give advice to another agency just starting to implement these activities, how would you advise them to proceed?

G. Online shopping activities

Interviewer instructions: Customize this section with the types of online shopping activities the State agency implemented. We’d like to collect data about the individual online shopping activities; however, when it is possible to group similar activities together—such as those that had similar timelines, tasks, etc.—do so to streamline the interview.

INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Summarize the online shopping activities the State agency is implementing, as found in the document review, and discussed in Section C.

I’d like to ask you some questions about the activities your agency implemented to plan for or enable WIC participants to shop online.

1. Please start by giving me a high-level overview of the steps your agency has taken to plan for, or implement, online shopping activities. Some examples of online shopping activities include reviewing online shopping resources from the Center for Nutrition and Health Impact (CNHI), developing an implementation team, engaging with a potential vendor partner, and meeting with your agency’s EBT processor to plan for implementation. We are interested in online shopping activities that are not part of CNHI-funded subgrants, though we recognize that grant funding from FNS may be contributing to projects that are also funded via CNHI subgrants.

1. [IF WORKING WITH A VENDOR PARTNER] What kinds of training and support did your agency provide to vendor staff?

2. Please describe why your agency decided to prioritize online shopping activities as part of your modernization efforts.

1. Did you see a need or a desire by vendors to offer online shopping and associated activities to WIC participants? Did you hear from WIC participants that they were interested in online shopping? Please describe.

3. Please describe the process for implementing/planning online shopping throughout your agency’s jurisdiction, including if there was/is planned a staged roll-out (i.e., a select number of stores before a full roll-out), or if it was/will be a full-scale roll-out (i.e., offering online shopping at all stores that use the online platform at once). Did/Will this process vary by vendor? INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Try to obtain the month and year for each phase for each online shopping activity (by select areas if it varied within the State agency’s jurisdiction).

1. [IF ROLLOUT OF AN ACTIVITY VARIED BY LOCATION] – What caused the variation in timeline for rolling out an activity? What impact did this variation have on overall implementation?

4. REACH: How many WIC participants have access to online shopping in WIC? Was online shopping available throughout the whole State or was it only available in select areas? How many participants are utilizing WIC online shopping? How many vendors offer online shopping for WIC participants?

5. INTENSITY: Thank you for already providing the start dates for the activities – have any activities ended? IF YES: when did they end? How often did participants/vendors partake in online shopping activities?

[INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION FOR REACH AND INTENSITY QUESTIONS: If the respondent doesn’t know the answers to the reach and/or intensity questions, note that you will email them a form to fill out with this information so they can consult with colleagues and background materials, as needed. Let them know you will conduct a ten-minute follow-up call within a week so they can provide you the information over the phone.]

6. What successes did you observe when implementing the online shopping activities? What factors led to these successes?

7. Many agencies encountered barriers when implementing grant activities. What barriers did you encounter when implementing the online shopping activities? What do you think led to these difficulties?

1. What help from FNS could have improved the process? What help might still be needed?

8. How did your agency address and attempt to overcome these barriers? How did your agency support vendors in trying to overcome barriers they encountered?

1. Were you able to overcome these challenges? Please describe.

9. What will it look like to make updates and conduct maintenance to the online shopping system?

1. [IF IMPLEMENTING] – Since launching, what updates, if any, has the agency identified as needing to update to maintain the online shopping solution? Are there any cost implications with these updates?

2. [IF IMPLEMENTING] – Does your agency have concerns around maintenance costs for online shopping? Does your agency have concerns around cost to scale the online shopping solution to additional vendors?

3. [IF PLANNING] – Does your agency have concerns about the cost to implement online shopping?

10. In your opinion, how have these online shopping activities made it easier for all different types of participants to redeem WIC benefits?

11. Thinking about the online shopping activities we just discussed, if you had to give advice to another agency just starting to implement these activities, how would you advise them to proceed?

H. Farmers’ market/roadside produce stand shopping experience

Interviewer instructions: Customize this section with questions about the eSolution(s) the State agency implemented for transacting and processing FMNP benefits and/or WIC cash value benefit (or CVB) at local farmers’ markets and/or roadside produce stands. We’d like to collect data about the individual farmers’ market/roadside produce stand eSolution activities; however, when it is possible to group similar activities together—such as those that had similar timelines, tasks, etc.—do so to streamline the interview.

INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Summarize the activities the State agency is implementing to improve the shopping experience at farmers’ markets and/or roadside produce stands, as found in the document review and discussed in Section C.

I’d like to ask you some questions about the activities your agency has undertaken to enable WIC CVB transactions with farmers and farmers’ markets and/or to implement an FMNP eSolution so that WIC participants can redeem benefits electronically with authorized outlets (i.e., farmers, farmers’ markets, and/or roadside produce stands).

1. Please start by giving me a high-level overview of the activities you’ve undertaken to enable WIC CVB/FMNP eSolution transactions with farmers/farmers’ markets, such as what your agency has worked on so far, and what implementation, or planning for implementation, has looked like.

1. What kinds of training and support did your agency provide to authorized outlet staff?

2. How has the eSolution/WIC CVB changed the reimbursement process(es) for authorized outlets?

3. Did you see a need or desire by farmers/farmers’ markets to adopt an eSolution and/or accept WIC CVB? Did WIC/FMNP participants express a need or desire? Please describe.

1. Are there any other reasons your agency decided to prioritize eSolution/WIC CVB at farmers’ market activities as part of your modernization efforts? Please describe.

4. Did each activity roll out at the same time throughout the State agency’s jurisdiction, or did the timing vary by select areas? By rollout, I mean the process of making the eSolution and/or use of WIC CVB at farmers’ markets and/or roadside stands available to WIC/FMNP participants and authorized outlets, as distinct from the planning phase of a grant. This process could happen in phases or all at once. INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Try to obtain the month and year for each phase of each activity (by select area if timing varied within the State agency’s jurisdiction).

1. [IF ROLLOUT OF AN ACTIVITY VARIED BY LOCATION] – What caused the variation in timeline for rolling out an activity? What impact did this variation have on overall implementation?

5. REACH: How many people did each activity reach? Did the activities cover the whole [state/implementation area]? How many participants/authorized outlets use or engage with these activities?

6. INTENSITY: Thank you for already providing the start dates for the activities – have any activities ended? IF YES: when did they end? How often do participants/authorized outlets use or engage with the eSolution and/or WIC CVB at farmers’ markets and/or roadside stands?

[INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION FOR REACH AND INTENSITY QUESTIONS: If the respondent doesn’t know the answers to the reach and/or intensity questions, note that you will email them a form to fill out with this information so they can consult with colleagues and background materials, as needed. Let them know you will conduct a ten-minute follow-up call within a week so they can provide you the information over the phone.]

7. Was the adoption or use of the eSolution and/or WIC CVB at farmers’ markets and/or roadside produce stands required or optional for authorized outlets? IF OPTIONAL – How many authorized outlets adopted it?

8. What successes did you observe when implementing the activities? What factors led to these successes?

1. What supports did your agency offer, and which were most effective or helpful for participants and authorized outlets?

9. Many agencies encountered barriers when implementing grant activities. What barriers did you experience when implementing these activities? What do you think led to these difficulties?

1. How did your agency address and attempt to overcome barriers? How did your agency support farmers/farmers’ markets to overcome barriers they encountered?

10. In your opinion, how have these activities made it easier for different populations to shop with WIC/FMNP benefits?

11. Thinking about the activities we just discussed, if you had to give advice to another agency just starting to implement these activities, what would you say?

I. Grant effectiveness and sustainability

Instructions for interviewers: Ask this set of questions about each grant individually.

I’d like to ask you some questions about the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of the grant activities that we just discussed.

1. Overall, how effective do you think [GRANT] has been in increasing and improving WIC or FMNP recruitment, enrollment, retention, benefit redemption, and/or the overall participant experience?

2. After the grant period ends, how easy or difficult do you think it will be to sustain the grant’s activities or results? Please explain.

Interviewer instructions: Now go back through the protocol to gather information on activities associated with Grant 2. And then do the same for Grant 3 – and so on for all remaining grants.

J. Waivers

Interviewer instructions: Use information gathered from the document review to customize this set of questions about the waivers related to [GRANT 1, then GRANT 2, etc. – as well as any waivers not directly tied to a grant], and only ask relevant questions based on that information. Ask this set of waiver questions about each waiver. Make it clear to the respondent that we are only discussing ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) waivers related to the modernization efforts. Some waivers might be directly tied to a grant; other waivers may not be tied to a grant, such as physical presence/remote issuance/separation of duties waivers, but you will still ask the questions below for each of these waivers. For waivers that are bundled (i.e., sets of waivers for a specific purpose), ask about the bundle, rather than the specific waiver.

In this last section of the interview, I’d like to ask you some questions about the waivers that were meant to help you implement the WIC modernization activities. We’d like to learn more about the waivers that were approved and implemented by your agency.

1. Please describe the modernization activities you are using [WAIVER_1] to support. Did the waiver make it easier to pursue these activities – why or why not? Could you have undertaken these activities without the waiver?

1. Probe: For waiver bundles, ask if there were any waivers used to implement activities not related to the main purpose of the bundle (e.g., online shopping or mobile pay).

2. Please describe any barriers your agency faced to implementing [WAIVER_1].

3. Is there anything you would change about [WAIVER_1] if it were a permanent flexibility? Are there any other activities that [WAIVER_1] would help you to pursue in the long term? Please describe.

4. In what ways does [WAIVER_1] make it easier for all eligible people to join WIC or FMNP, access WIC services, and/or redeem WIC or FMNP benefits?

5. [PHYSICAL PRESENCE WAIVER] Did the physical presence waiver implementation roll out at the same time throughout the State agency’s jurisdiction, or did timing vary by select areas? By rollout, I mean the process of making the waiver flexibilities available to WIC participants. This process could happen in phases or all at once. INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: Try to obtain the month and year for the implementation of the waiver, particularly if it was rolled out and implemented at different times throughout the State.

6. [PHYSICAL PRESENCE WAIVER] Which WIC participants are allowed to choose virtual appointments, and under which circumstances? (e.g., personal preference, weather emergency, transportation, medical conditions, subsequent certification)

7. [PHYSICAL PRESENCE WAIVER] What type of appointments can be done virtually? (e.g., certification; nutrition education; breastfeeding education, promotion, and support)

8. [PHYSICAL PRESENCE WAIVER] How and when is anthropometric data and blood data collected for virtual appointments?

9. [REMOTE BENEFIT ISSUANCE WAIVER] Does [STATE AGENCY] require any engagement with the participant before issuing benefits? Please describe.

IF STATE AGENCY WITHDREW ANY WAIVER REQUESTS

1. From the document review, we noted your State agency formally withdrew at least one waiver request between [TIMEFRAME]. Please tell me which waiver(s) and the reasons for requesting the withdrawal(s).

CLOSING: Those are all the questions I have today. Is there anything you would like to mention about your experience with modernization grants and waivers that we haven’t already discussed? Thank you so much for speaking with me today, I really appreciate it.

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