Colorado WIC Program Policies and Procedures Section 2: Nutrition Services Revised: 07/01/2026 Page 1 of 2 Education Documentation Policy: A minimum of two nutrition education contacts must be documented in the participant’s WIC record for each 6-month certification period. For breastfeeding women, infants and children certified for more than six months, contacts must be offered on a quarterly basis. Actively participating breastfeeding women of an infant older than 6 months of age receiving out of range formula do not receive food benefits but a nutrition education contact is still required. Regulation: 7 CFR 246.11(e) Procedure/Additional Guidance: The purpose of documentation is to record information provided to and from the participant during a WIC visit. Quality documentation ensures continuity of care and enables staff to review plans from previous visits, follow up on participant goals, and reinforce nutrition education messages. Participant Care Plan information must be entered no more than 10 days after a visit. The following are required components of nutrition education documentation in Compass: ● Completion of the Nutrition Education panel including: o Selecting Nutrition Education Topics Covered, o Documenting any pamphlets provided in the Pamphlets Provided field, o Checking the High Risk Follow Up Appointment check box if a high risk visit is performed by the high risk WIC counselor or IBCLC/CLC. ● Completion of the Participant Care Plan including: o Participant comments, objective information, assessment, nutrition education, pamphlets, goals, referral and follow-up plan as appropriate and as described below. o At least one goal the participant identified documented (exception, low-risk participants who complete a wichealth.org lesson or those that complete a nutrition education contact via a Nutrition Education class). Documenting High Risk: When a WIC educator identifies a participant to be high risk and the WIC High Risk Counselor provides high risk counseling that day, both WIC staff enter a separate education note. Only one education note is required when the WIC High Risk Counselor completes both the certification/recertification/follow up and high risk counseling in one visit. Documenting Group Education: In order for a group education session to be counted as a nutrition contact, a class outline must be on file that specifies the topics covered, materials used, and the class title. Nutrition education class topics are chosen when a class is created in the Compass scheduler. When a parti cipant completes a class, those topics are transferred to their nutrition education record. A care plan is not required. Creating A Care Plan: The Care Plan – Participant panel is where all subjective, objective, assessment, counseling and plan, goals and referral information is located. Here are lists of possible items within each section: ● Subjective: is information obtained directly from the participant, the participant's family, or a healthcare professional. ✔ Participant comments will pull into the Subjective area from the text boxes in the current Nutrition Interview. ✔ Staff may add additional information in the white text box under Subjective such as: o Additional participant comments related to: medical, growth and iron, nutrition practices, lifestyle and/or personal factors. o Reason why a staff-assigned risk factor was assigned. o Other needs identified. o Comments related to follow up on previous goals. o Comments related to follow up on previous referrals. o Additional subjective information that was not collected during the Nutrition Interview can be added to the open text boxes.

Colorado WIC Program Policies and Procedures Section 2: Nutrition Services Revised: 07/01/2026 ✔ Objective: is information from measurable facts such as a tests, physical measurements, etc. Participant information such as category, age, blood work, height, weight, week’s gestation, and growth percentile data entered in previous Compass panels will pull into the objective area of the care plan. Additional objective information such as special dietary needs, special formulas, and tailored food packages can be added to the open text boxes. ● Assessment: ✔ Compass risk factors added in previous Compass panels will pull into the assessment area of the Care Plan. In the white text box under Assessment, WIC staff members may add their assessment. An example of an assessment would be “diet high in sugar sweetened beverages” or “participant has gained x amount of weight in x days/weeks.” Agencies that use the Nutrition Care Process, (Problem, Etiology & Signs/Symptoms) PES statements may be added here also. Staff are not required to write an assessment, but may do so if they choose. ● Counseling/Plan/Pamphlets: ✔ Selected counseling topics and pamphlets from the Nutrition Education Panel automatically populate into these text boxes when a new Participant Care Plan is selected. ● Counseling/Education: ✔ Additional counseling and nutrition education information can be entered into the text box to clarify or enhance the topics and counseling points entered in the Nutrition Education Panel. ● Goals: ✔ What the participant states will be their next step or what they will work on or do (based on their stage of change). ✔ One goal is required and should be participant centered, specific and time sensitive. ● Referrals: ✔ Each agency has a list of organizations that is entered into Compass for outreach and referral purposes. Referrals provided to participants are pulled from those documented on the Referral- Participant panel in the Family/Intake area of Compass. ● Plan: The plan is a place to record information to be covered at the next visit or additional measures to take. A plan is entered for future visits such as a referral to the WIC High Risk Counselor, the items that need to be completed for the next visit or additional referrals. If applicable, the WIC High Risk Counselors should enter when to schedule the next high risk visit with the WIC High Risk Counselor. Elements of Quality Nutrition Services Documentation: Consistent: Follows protocols set by Colorado WIC Clear: Precisely stated and easily understood by any reader Organized: Follows a logical order that minimizes duplication Complete: Creates a picture of the participant, the services provided over time, and outlines a plan for future services Concise: Contains relevant information Documentation of Other Contacts: WIC staff should document other visits or contacts in the participant’s care plan when education or information is exchanged or goals are set. Note: For appointments such as the Anthro/Hgb Only appointment, where staff are only gathering height, weight or hemoglobin (either in-person or remotely) and no information is exchanged, staff do not need to create a Care Plan. Editing WIC Records: A participant care plan cannot be edited more than 3 days after it was created. If more information needs to be entered in Compass for a participant after 3 days, a new education note must be created. In this case you would not need to enter a new record in the Nutrition Education panel as you have already created a nutrition education contact for this visit. Create a new record in the Participant Care Plan panel and note the date of the original education note in the new note. Page 2 of 2