Caseload Management (CM)

CM-4 Waiting Lists

1 Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention WIC Nutrition Program Effective: October 1, 2011

Policy No. CM-4 Revised: August 1, 2016

Waiting List Management Authority 7 CFR Part 246.7(e)(4), (f)(1) 22 MRSA §255 and §1951 10-144 CMR Chapter 286, II.F 1 and 2. Policy 1. Waiting lists shall be initiated only after the State Agency receives Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) approval. 2. Applicants shall be placed on waiting lists based on nutrition risk priority. See Policy No. CE-3, Nutrition Risk Determination for further description of the determination of nutrition risk priority. 3. Telephone requests for placement on the waiting list shall not be accepted. Procedures 1. Based on food funds availability, the State Agency shall project the maximum caseload that can be served annually. If the projected caseload is determined to be equal to or less than the current participation, the State Agency shall: 1.1. Determine the number of participants that can be served statewide. 1.2. Determine the number of participants that can be served at each local agency. 1.3. Communicate the maximum caseload to each local agency. 1.4. Request approval to implement a waiting list from FNS. 2. If projected caseload is greater than current participation, the State Agency shall: 2.1. Determine the number of participants that can be served statewide. 2.2. Determine the number of participants that can be served at each local agency. 2.3. Communicate the maximum caseload to each local agency.

Caseload Management (CM)

CM-4 Waiting Lists

2 2.4. When a local agency approaches their maximum caseload, they shall notify the State Agency director or other designated staff member by email and/or phone. 3. The State Agency shall assess participation at all other local agencies to determine if a waiting list is needed. 4. The State Agency shall request FNS approval to implement a waiting list at the local agency level, as needed. 5. Each applicant must be screened for income, eligibility, and nutrition risk before being added to a waiting list. In no case shall an applicant who requests placement on the waiting list after this assessment be denied inclusion. 6. Applicants shall be assigned to the waiting list beginning with individuals in the lowest priority nutrition risk group (Priority 7) currently being served. Applicants in sequentially higher priority nutrition risk groups shall be added to the waiting list as needed to achieve the necessary cut in active caseload. 7. All local agency waiting lists shall contain the following information: 7.1. Name 7.2. Address 7.3. Phone number(s) 7.4. Date placed on waiting list 7.5. Category 7.6. Priority level 7.7. Nutrition risk 7.8. Income eligibility status 8. All applicants who are placed on a waiting list shall be notified in writing within twenty (20) days of their visit to the local agency. 9. Applicants shall be advised in writing of their right to a fair hearing to appeal the local agency’s decision to place them on a waiting list (see Appendix OM-17-A Maine CDC WIC Program Notification of Appeal Procedure form). 10. The local agency shall document the notification of fair hearing information in the participant’s file. 11. Participants whose certification period has not expired shall continue to receive WIC food benefits until the end of their certification period. At the end of their current certification

Caseload Management (CM)

CM-4 Waiting Lists

3 period, they will need to be recertified. At that time they shall be placed on the waiting list if they are in a priority group at or below the cut-off for being placed on the waiting list. 12. Both new applicants and participants needing recertification must be certified in order to determine their nutrition risk and to assign their nutrition priority. Participants needing recertification do not take priority over new applicants and both shall be placed on the same waiting list. 13. Local agencies shall provide information on other food assistance programs to applicants who are placed on a waiting list. 14. Once an opening becomes available, local agency staff may schedule an appointment for the next person on the waiting list to receive nutrition education and be issued food benefits. 15. Participants who transfer from another WIC clinic (whether in-state or out of state) with a valid Verification of Certification (VOC), and who are still within a certification period shall be served until the end of their certification period. If their certification period has expired, they are to be treated as all other applicants for certification. 16. If additional food funds become available, the number of applicants who can be added to the statewide caseload shall be projected by priority group by the State Agency. 17. The State Agency shall notify local agencies of the number of applicants who can be activated by that local agency, by priority group. 18. Applicants in each priority group shall become active in chronological order of their placement on the waiting list. 19. Waiting lists shall be maintained by the WIC Management Information System (MIS). 20. Local agencies shall retain records of waiting lists for one year.