Colorado WIC Program Policies and Procedures Section 4: Organization and Management Revised: 10/01/2018

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Product Distribution in WIC & Research Requests

Policy: Distribution of products given to WIC clinics or referrals must not take away or replace WIC service. Requested research efforts involving the Colorado WIC Program by both profit and non-profit groups must seek the approval of the Colorado WIC Director.

Regulation: Colorado WIC Policy

Procedure/Additional Guidance: The State Office allows local WIC agencies to partner with profit and non-profits groups in the distribution of their products following these requirements:  The distribution or referral must not replace or take away from WIC services.  Products distributed must be in the best interest of WIC participants.  Products may not undermine breastfeeding efforts (consider WHO Code compliance). Local agencies must notify their State Nutrition Consultant before distributing a product.  Data should not be exchanged for products. Colorado WIC can provide summaries of data at the group level. WIC data is public and available on the Colorado WIC webpage. For more specific information on data sharing, see the Section 4, Data Sharing For Participant and Applicants Data policy.

Research Inquiries Research requests must be approved by the Colorado WIC Director. Research is defined as any request for individual-level data, even if the data does not identify WIC participants, in exchange for distribution of products or any time when WIC participants have additional data collected about them that is not normally collected at the WIC appointment. Common research requests may include but are not limited to asking which participants received the product, the participants’ use of the distributed products and/or the impact of the product on WIC participants. Research requests will be judged by the possible benefit of WIC participants, the appropriateness of methods, and the reasonableness of the time required to complete the research.