Colorado WIC Program Policies and Procedures Section 7: Caseload Management Revised: 01/01/2025

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WIC Service Accessibility

Policy: Local WIC Programs must ensure that service delivery meets the Colorado WIC Service Standards and that clinic locations and clinic operations are accessible to all clients.

Regulation: Colorado WIC Policy, CFR 246.4(a)(23)

Procedure/Additional Guidance Colorado WIC Local Agency - Clinic Locations Local clinic locations must be assessed by the local agency to ensure they best serve the WIC-eligible populations. This means considering factors such as accessibility, proximity to public transportation, hours of operation, and the nearby availability of other community and/or public health services. Colorado WIC local agencies must inform the State Office of all WIC clinic locations, including when a new clinic opens, closes, or moves to another location.

WIC Service Accessibility To ensure that applicants and clients encounter fewer barriers in accessing WIC services, agencies are encouraged to: ∙ Ensure that service delivery hours and clinic sites are accessible to working parents and isolated rural residents. This includes offering services during lunch times, some evenings, and weekend hours as possible. Agencies may need to allow staff to work flexible schedules (e.g., starting early or staying late) or hire new staff (e.g., when turnover occurs) willing to work non-traditional hours. Provide decentralized or mobile clinics, if able. ∙ Utilize various scheduling methods to ensure clients can easily make appointments. This includes scheduling clients ahead of time, allowing clients to call in for appointments, and accommodating walk-ins when possible. ∙ Allow clients to choose their WIC clinic. ∙ Reschedule client's appointment to the next available time slot within the same month if they miss their scheduled appointment. If rescheduling, due to clinic appointment availability, would result in delayed or missed food benefits, agencies should issue enough monthly food benefits to ensure there are no gaps in the client’s benefits until their next scheduled appointment whenever possible. Offer remote appointment to provide more flexibility. ∙ Promote and offer wichealth.org for follow up appointments. ∙ Set aside weekly or monthly time slots for clients to make up missed appointments. ∙ Extend an infant’s or child’s certification period when possible.

Colorado WIC Service Standards The Colorado WIC Services Standards are predefined criteria that ensure access, equity, and quality in COWIC core services for all clients. Service standards and staff roles serve as frameworks for maintaining consistency, accountability and excellence in service delivery and contract accountability; considered to be the minimum required as a Colorado WIC local agency. ∙ Clients must be able to contact their assigned agency (directly or through partnership) at least four hours per day, five days a week. Ideally, this is through access to trained Program staff via phone. This requirement can also be met by providing the option to leave a phone message with next- business-day response or by referring clients to another agency that is open. ∙ Clients must be scheduled within the required processing standards as outlined in the Processing Standards policy. ∙ Clients who are assigned a high nutrition risk factor are scheduled with the high risk counselor within the required time frame according to the High and Low Risk Protocols policy. ∙ Referrals received from the WIC Referral System must be contacted within ten days from the date of submission. ∙ Clients and staff of each agency are served directly or via partnership with the following roles as defined in the Local Staffing policy:

Colorado WIC Program Policies and Procedures Section 7: Caseload Management Revised: 01/01/2025

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o Director o High Risk Counselor o Educator o Breastfeeding Coordinator o Retail Coordinator