NC WIC Program Manual

October 2025

Chapter 2 State Agency Organization

Table of Contents

The North Carolina WIC Program operates within the Community Nutrition Services Section and under the auspices of the Division of Child and Family Well-Being, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS). This chapter provides an overview of the Community Nutrition Services Section and the staff that work with the WIC Program.

Section 1. Community Nutrition Services Section Overview ..................................................1  Programs Administered by the Section  Units Within the Section Administrative Services Unit Information Services Unit WIC Nutrition Services Section Special Nutrition Programs Unit Vendor Unit

Section 2. State Agency WIC Program Staff ............................................................................3

NC WIC Program Manual

October 2025

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Chapter 2: STATE AGENCY ORGANIZATION

1 Section 1: COMMUNITY NUTRITION SERVICES OVERVIEW

NC WIC Program Manual

October 2025 Community Nutrition Services Section Overview

The Community Nutrition Services Section (CNSS) is housed within the Division of Child and Family Well-Being (DCFW) in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS). Activities of the Community Nutrition Services Section promote sound nutrition habits among infants and children and women in their childbearing years. Section staff work with county, state and private agencies to improve health status by reducing the incidence of nutritional risk factors including food insecurity, improving pregnancy outcomes, and by hastening recovery from illness and injury through the provision of technical assistance, education and supplemental foods.

 Programs Administered by the Section

 Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)

 WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP)

 NC Nutrition and Epidemiology Surveillance Systems (NC-NESS) containing demographic and geographical characteristics and Nutrition Risk profile of WIC participants.

 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

 Units Within the Section

 Administrative Services Unit. The Administrative Unit provides overall administration and management of all programs operated through the Community Nutrition Services Section.

 Information Systems Unit. The Information Systems Unit administers, develops and operates the WIC, CACFP, and FMNP information systems (Crossroads and NC CACFP CONNECTS) and the Customer Service Desk.

 WIC Nutrition Services Nutrition Unit. The WIC Nutrition Services Nutrition Unit is responsible for developing program policy, procedures, and implementation guidance related to participant and clinical services of the WIC; developing program leading efforts to promote, protect and support breastfeeding; supporting quality assurance of nutrition programs through policy, monitoring, evaluation and data analysis; coordinating programmatic and nutrition training for local agency staff, and staff of public and private entities; developing nutrition education tools that promote breastfeeding, healthful eating and physical activity in women, children, youth and families; providing consultation and technical assistance to local health agencies, managing the NC NESS, supporting other surveillance and evaluation efforts, developing and maintaining the WIC computer system, and providing related training.

Chapter 2: STATE AGENCY ORGANIZATION

2 Section 1: COMMUNITY NUTRITION SERVICES OVERVIEW

NC WIC Program Manual

October 2025  Special Nutrition Programs Unit. The Special Nutrition Programs Unit administers the CACFP. As the administering agency, this unit provides training, technical assistance, monitoring, interpretation of federal regulations, audits, and nutrition education. This assistance helps local sponsors of these programs operate effectively.

 Vendor Unit. The Vendor Unit administers all aspects of the Vendor component of the WIC Program including program policy and vendor contracting, education, surveillance, inventory audits, and compliance buys.

Chapter 2: STATE AGENCY ORGANIZATION

3 Section 2: STATE AGENCY WIC PROGRAM STAFF

NC WIC Program Manual

October 2025

State Agency WIC Program Staff

The following tables provide a brief overview of staff within the Community Nutrition Services Section (CNSS) with one or more areas of responsibility with the WIC Program. Staff with WIC Program responsibilities but who are housed outside of CNSS are also listed.

Position Name of Individual Primary Area(s) of WIC Program Responsibility COMMUNITY NUTRITION SERVICES SECTION ADMINISTRATION Assistant Director Division of Child and Family Well-Being Jennifer Bailey MS, MPH, RDN, LDN

State WIC Director. Overall responsibility for WIC Program including supervision and recruitment of staff; financial management; administrative aspects & caseload management. Deputy Director Kim Lovenduski, MPA

Program Manager II serves as the Deputy Director. Responsible for IT systems, and all section operations. Supervises the Financial, Vendor, MIS, Purchasing, and Information Services Units. Program Coordinator II Lydia Jackson Management support, contracts coordinator. Business Manager I Beata Mioduszewski Coordinates local agency budgets and expenditure reports; contracts; financial reporting; oversees warehouse. Business Officer I Sarah Gabriel Fiscal management, federal reporting, rebate reporting. Administrative Officer I VACANT Coordinates purchasing activities for the section. Administrative Officer I VACANT Contracts, Agreement Addendum, budget revision of local WIC Agencies. Administrative Officer I VACANT Administrative support. Inventory Associate II

John Noonan Section Warehouse Coordinator responsible for mailing and inventory of administrative and nutrition education materials to stakeholders. Business Service Coordinator I VACANT Accounts payable and fixed assets. Application Systems Analyst II Molly Jones, CSM, CSPO, SSM

Provides release management coordination for NC for the WIC Crossroads MIS System. WIC NUTRITION SERVICES UNIT Program Manager I Sherry Ebner, MBA, RD, LDN State Nutrition Coordinator; leadership and coordination of policy & procedures development related to participant and clinical services; coordination of local agency program reviews; program evaluation; training and development of nutrition education materials and resources. Administrative Specialist I VACANT Management support.

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October 2025

Position Name of Individual Primary Area(s) of WIC Program Responsibility Administrative Specialist II Cassandra Rogers

Management support.

Program Manager I Ashley Pugh, MS, RD, LDN, IBCLC WIC Policy and Quality Assurance Team Leader. Develop program policy, procedures, and implementation guidance related to participant and clinical services of the WIC Program and to support quality assurance of nutrition programs through program monitoring and evaluation. Program Manager I Sara Moss, MPH, RD Nutrition Education and Training Team Leader. Coordinate programmatic and nutrition training for local health agency staff and staff of public and private entities; to develop nutrition education tools that promote breastfeeding, healthful eating and physical activity in women, children and families; to conduct social marketing and health education campaigns; and to support quality assurance of nutrition programs through program monitoring and evaluation. Public Health Epidemiologist Najmul Chowdhury, MBBS, MPH Pregnancy and Pediatric Nutrition Epidemiology Surveillance System (PedNESS) program evaluation. Program Manager I Chiara Phillips, MS, RD, LDN, IBCLC State Breastfeeding Coordinator, Responsible for supervising the Breastfeeding Promotion and Support Team. This includes leading efforts to promote, protect and support breastfeeding within WIC and DCFW and to support quality assurance of nutrition programs through program monitoring and evaluation. Nutrition Program Consultant (Breastfeeding Promotion and Support Team) Charlotte Zuber Patton, MPH, RD, LDN, IBCLC

State Peer Counselor Coordinator; policy, procedures, and program development for peer counseling programs and to support quality assurance of nutrition programs through program monitoring and evaluation. Nutrition Program Consultants (Policy and Quality Assurance Team) Bhuvana Parmar, MS, RD, LDN Kimberly Wright, MS, RD, LDN Mallory Smith, MS RD LDN VACANT Develop program policy, procedures, and implementation guidance related to participant and clinical services and to support quality assurance of nutrition programs through program monitoring and evaluation.

Nutrition Program Consultants (Nutrition Education and Training Team) Katharine Clarke, MS, RD, LDN VACANT Angela Harpell MS, RD, LDN Meredith Ebersohl, MS, MPH, RD, LDN Coordinate programmatic and nutrition training for local health agency staff and staff of public and private entities; to develop nutrition education tools that promote breastfeeding, healthful eating and physical activity in women, children and families; to conduct social marketing and health education campaigns; and to support quality assurance of nutrition

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October 2025

Position Name of Individual Primary Area(s) of WIC Program Responsibility programs through program monitoring and evaluation. Nutrition Program Consultant Nan Pardington, MS, RD Translates program policy into the WIC MIS; develops tools to support data integrity and training of local agency staff on MIS; supports data analysis and reporting of WIC MIS data. Program Manager I Kathy Griffin, MS, RD Supervising the Regional Nutrition Consultants. This includes supervising consultation and technical assistance on program policy to local health agencies and to support quality assurance of nutrition programs through program monitoring and evaluation. Nutrition Program Consultants (Regional Nutrition Consultants)

Cara Perdue, PhD, RD, LDN Donna Clark, MS, RD Ashton Cooper MS, RD, LDN Leigh Ellen Dudley, MS, RDN, LDN Tonya Nicholson, MS, RD Natasha Vos, MPH, RD, LDN Provides consultation and technical assistance on program policy to local health agencies and to support quality assurance of nutrition programs through program monitoring and evaluation.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS UNIT Application Systems Analyst I Sharon McDougal Information System Manager, provides leadership, supervision & management of WIC Information System. User Support Analysts– CNSS Customer Service Desk Dovella Black Janice Freeman Troy Hirt Carmen Ketchum WIC Information System support activities.

VENDOR UNIT Program Manager I Wyatt Jordan Provides leadership, supervision & direction for food delivery system and vendor surveillance. Human Service Planner/Evaluator II William Webb Coordinates compliance activities related to WIC vendors. Manages the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP). Program Coordinator IV Jasmine Martin Coordinates local agency vendor activities, completes local WIC agency reviews/monitoring analysis, and provides technical assistance to vendor staff locally and vendors statewide. Prepares and analyzes vendor data and coordinates eWIC vendor- related activities. Program Coordinator IV

Heather Dingess, MPA

Coordinates local agency vendor activities, completes local WIC agency reviews/monitoring analysis and provides technical assistance to vendor staff locally and vendors statewide. Assists with coordination of the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

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NC WIC Program Manual

October 2025

Position Name of Individual Primary Area(s) of WIC Program Responsibility Program Coordinator IV Thermon Newton Coordinates local agency vendor activities, including all training events, completes local WIC agency reviews/monitoring analysis and provides technical assistance to vendor staff locally and vendors statewide. Program Coordinator IV Lakia Jones, MS

Coordinates local agency vendor activities, completes local WIC agency reviews/monitoring analysis and provides technical assistance to vendor staff locally and vendors statewide. Prepares and analyzes vendor data including Federally required reports. Submits vendor-related Federal reports annually. Finance and Business Compliance Analyst II Sam Cabrera Conducts inventory audits. Investigates potential fraud cases. Represents the Vendor Unit as needed in litigation. Program Coordinator IV Shekiyah Powell-Gentry

Conducts compliance buy investigations on WIC vendors. Administrative Specialist I Melissa Jacobs Provides administrative support for the Vendor Unit and the Information Services Unit. Administrative Specialist I Adrienna Singletary Completes compliance-related activities for the Vendor Unit to include claims tracking/resolution, dissemination of vendor correspondence regarding program compliance in addition to recording, organizing, and summarizing compliance data for authorized vendors.

There are staff also who work directly with the WIC Program but who are housed outside of CNSS.

Position Name of Individual Primary Area(s) of WIC Program Responsibility

LEGAL STAFF (Attorney General’s Office) Special Deputy Attorney General Emily Urch

Legal Consultant to the WIC Program. Represents the program in administrative appeals and court actions.