WIC: a look at an award-winning program - Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children

Food and Nutrition, Oct, 1987 by Marian Wig

WIC A Look At An Award-Winning Program

In a management improvement effort known as "Focus on Management," federal, state, and local WIC managers are looking at ways to achieve several key goals.

One is targeting WIC benefits to high-risk mothers and children, who are most in need of WIC services. Another is integrating WIC with other health services and combining appropriate records to make following participants' progress easier and more effective.

Still other goals are better managing administrative costs and improving vendor management by making sure food stores authorized to accept WIC vouchers are carefully selected, trained, and monitored.

For 13 years, WIC--officially known as the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children--has been providing food and nutrition education to low-income mothers and children whose health may be jeopardized because of inadequate diet.

Through Focus on Management WIC managers are taking a closer look at what works best at the state and local levels and sharing information on successful approaches.

The following article looks at Pennsylvania's WIC vendor management program, for which the state has received national recognition. Special training helps vendors understand how WIC works. Here, Vanessa Mosee, vendor manager for Philadelphia WIC agency North, Inc., shows a group of vendors what information is included on WIC participants' identification cards.

Pennsylvania

Is A Leader In

WIC Vendor

Management

Food retailers play a vital role in making WIC work. By stocking the appropriate WIC foods and exchanging them for participants' vouchers, they help make sure mothers and children get the food they need for good health.

The majority of food stores are eager to follow program rules. But those who overcharge for WIC foods, exchange vouchers for cash, or sell unapproved or nonfood items, tap program resources.

In Pennsylvania, a relatively new vendor management system is ensuring that WIC food dollars benefit only participants. Limiting the number of stores authorized to accept WIC vouchers is an important part of the new system.

Authorized stores

carefully selected

"We felt that giving food stores open access to the program, which means no standards of performance or desired qualifications, did not result in the best service to participants or the most effective use of food dollars," says Mike Schappell, retail store coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

"In the past, Pennsylvania did not have a strong vendor program, but since we began limiting vendors 2 years ago, we've eliminated a lot of problems."

To put the new system into effect, Pennsylvania officials estimated the number of vendors needed to provide adequate service to the approximately 150,000 participants the state serves monthly. Geographic features and participation totals were used to arrive at a ratio of one vendor for every 75 participants.

Sixty-five of 181 vendors who applied last year were not authorized either because the number of vendors in their service area exceeded the state's new participant-vendor ratio or because they did not meet standards for participation.

During the past few years, Pennsylvania has reduced the number of vendors by 24 percent, without causing any undue hardship to participants.

"Using limitation criteria has allowed the state agency to better control the vendor population," says Pat Dombroski, regional WIC director for the Mid-Atlantic regional office of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), the federal agency that administers the program nationally. "Pennsylvania tailors the vendor population to program and participant needs."

In addition to federal approval, the state has also won support for its criteria system from vendors and the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association. In fact, the retailer group assisted in developing the policies.

Performance and

prices are factors

With experience, Pennsylvania WIC managers have modified and refined the limitation criteria to accurately identify fluctuations in the number of vendors needed. They've also identified vendor characteristics that correlate with business integrity, exceptional service, and low probability of abuse.

A store must have fair prices, a variety of food items, and, when applicable, a good past performance as a WIC vendor to be selected or to remain in the program.

"Selection criteria insure that a store has competitive food prices, is sanitary, properly stores food, and meets minimum requirements for inventory and operating hours," says Schappell.

Considerable research goes into evaluating competitive prices. Pennsylvania collects prices from all vendor applicants at the same time and compares vendors' price to one another.

Price comparison has contributed significantly in reducing the cost of WIC foods. In Pennsylvania, the average monthly cost of WIC foods is $26.40 per participant, $5.43 below the national average.

State managers have found chain store prices for WIC foods to be the lowest and operators the least likely to abuse the program. Sixty-two percent of the 1,700 WIC vendors in Pennsylvania are chain stores.