Colorado WIC Program Policies and Procedures Section 8: Certification, Eligibility and Coordination Revised: 10/01/2018

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Certification Periods

Policy: All eligible participants will be certified in the WIC Program according to their category for the length of time allowed by USDA regulations.

Regulation: 7CFR 246.7(g)

Procedure/Additional Guidance: Pregnant Woman  Apregnant woman is certified at time of entrance into the Program for the duration of her pregnancy and for up to the last day of the month in which her infant turns six weeks old or the pregnancy ends.  Within the 6 weeks postpartum period, she may be recertified as: o A non-breastfeeding woman up to the last day of the sixth month after her baby is born or the pregnancy ends. For example, the pregnant woman can be recertified as a non-breastfeeding woman within 6 weeks of delivery. If she is recertified during this time period she receives postpartum food benefits. If the recertification is late (i.e., not done within 6 weeks), a woman can still be recertified as a non- breastfeeding and her new certification ends 6 months from the termination of her pregnancy.

OR o A breastfeeding woman for up to the last day of the month in which her infant turns one yearold, or until she stops breastfeeding, whichever occurs first.

Non-Breastfeeding/Postpartum Woman  A non-breastfeeding woman may be certified within 6 months of termination of pregnancy and is certified for up to the last day of the sixth month after her baby is born or the pregnancy ends.

Breastfeeding Woman  To be considered a breastfeeding woman, a woman must bebreastfeeding her infant on average of at least once a day.  A breastfeeding woman may be certified at any time during the one-year postpartum period.  A breastfeeding woman is certified for up to the last day of the month in which her infant turns 1 year old or until she stops breastfeeding, whichever happens first.  A breastfeeding womans eligibility will endno later than 1-year postpartum.  If a breastfeeding woman stops breastfeeding before 6-months postpartum, staff must change her category to postpartum/non-breastfeeding (refer to Section 8: Certification, Elilgibility and Coordination, Ineligible Applicants and Participant Terminations policy).  If a woman is partially breastfeeding her infant that is older than 6 months who is receiving an out of range amount of formula, she remains eligible to receive all WIC Program benefits (e.g., breastfeeding support, nutrition education, etc.) except food benefits.

Infant  The eligibility period for infants entering the Program from birth through 5 months of age begins on the date of certification into the Program until the last day of the month of his/her first birthday.  An infant who is 6 months up to 12 months of age may be certified for 6 months.  Category change from Infant to Child automatically occurs at the first recertification following their first birthday.

Child  The eligibility period for a child begins on the date of certification into the program and ends the last day of the month of a 12 month period.  A child may continue to receive WIC food benefits through the last day of the month of their 5th birthday.

Priority Levels & Certification Periods Local WIC programs will serve all priorities unless approval is given by the state office for restriction of priorities served. When an agency is approved to NOT serve priority 6 participants, (which includes postpartum, non- breastfeeding women at nutritional risk who do not qualify as a higher priority) the following apply:

Colorado WIC Program Policies and Procedures Section 8: Certification, Eligibility and Coordination Revised: 10/01/2018

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• A breastfeeding woman who stops breastfeeding before 6-months postpartum will be issued a minimum of 15-days benefits and then may no longer receive WIC benefits. • If benefits expire less than 15 days in the future, staff must issue the next month of benefits to ensure a 15- day notification period. • If the benefits expire in more than15 days in the future (redeemed or not), no additional benefits should be issued.

Shortening or Lengthening a Certification Period Federal regulations allow a participant to be recertified one-month prior or one month after their scheduled termination date. This flexibility allows the issuance of one month of food benefits beyond the certification period for certain categories of participants:  Children who have not reached 5 years of age.  Infants (certification may be extended up to, but not beyond, the 13th month of age).

If the participant has a valid reasonfor not being subsequently certified and meets a requirement for being extended, the termination date can be extended by one month. The participant's termination date cannot be extended if the participant has already been terminated or if the termination date has already been extended. If the termination date has been reached, the participant must be recertified (refer to Section 8: Certification, Eligibility and Coordination, Access to WIC Services policy).