435.1 Policy 435 Staffing Requirements March 9, 2020 POLICY Local WIC programs are required to have specific staff to carry out identified program functions and roles. PURPOSE To ensure that local agencies are able to meet all program requirements and functions defined by federal regulations and state policy. RELEVANT REGULATIONS CFR 246.11 c (7) (ii) OREGON WIC PPM REFERENCES ♦ 400—Local Program Overview: Responsibilities and Communication ♦ 440—Staff Training Requirements ♦ 660—Competent Professional Authority: Requirements ♦ 661—Competent Professional Authority: Appropriate Counseling for Risk Levels ♦ 710—Breastfeeding: Definition, Promotion and Support Standards ♦ 712—Breastfeeding: Breast Pump Ordering, Distribution and Tracking Guidelines ♦ 716—Breastfeeding Peer Counseling (BFPC) Program Requirements REFERENCE

2013 Nutrition Services Standards DEFINITIONS Breastfeeding Coordinator: A designated staff member who provides leadership to the local WIC agency regarding breastfeeding promotion, education and support. Breastfeeding Peer Counselor: A paraprofessional support person who provides basic breastfeeding information and encouragement to WIC pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. She is a mother who is breastfeeding or has breastfed, and she reflects the population served in age, ethnicity, education and language. Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Coordinator: This person is an IBCLC who mentors and coaches the breastfeeding peer counselors and coordinates the breastfeeding peer counseling program on a local program level. Competent Professional Authority: An individual on the staff of the local agency authorized to assess program eligibility, determine nutrition risk and prescribe supplemental foods.

Staffing Requirements, Continued 435.2 Training Supervisor: A health professional designated by the local program to ensure training of local staff is completed in accordance with state policy. WIC Coordinator: An individual on the staff of the local agency designated by the agency administrator to oversee overall operations of the local agency program and act as the local WIC program representative with the state WIC program and partner organizations. WIC Nutritionist: A nutrition professional working in WIC who meets one or more of the following qualifications: a Master’s Degree in nutrition; a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RD/RDN) with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, or eligible for RD/RDN registration; an Oregon Licensed Dietitian (LD). PROCEDURE Staffing Requirements 1.0 Local WIC programs are required to have staff who are qualified and trained in the following positions to ensure the local program meets all state and federal regulations, and that all participants receive appropriate nutrition services, including assessment, education, breastfeeding promotion and support:

Competent Professional Authority (CPA): Commonly referred to as certifiers, local agencies must have adequate CPA’s to provide services for the agency’s assigned caseload. See 660—Competent Professional Authority (CPA): Requirements for qualifications and competencies.

WIC Nutritionist: Each local agency must have access to adequate nutritionist time to provide high-risk services for the agency’s assigned caseload. See 661—Competent Professional Authority/ Appropriate Counseling for Risk Levels for qualifications and a description of required high- risk services. 1.2.1. Nutritionist competencies are available on the Training Supervisors web page on the Oregon WIC website. 1.2.2. Nutritionists must be qualified as a CPA.

WIC Coordinator: Each agency must have one staff member designated as filling this role. See ¶3.0 for details. 1.3.1. Coordinator competencies and descriptions of their duties are available on the Training Supervisors web page on the Oregon WIC website.

Breastfeeding Coordinator: Each agency must designate one staff person who meets qualification requirements to fill this role. See 710— Breastfeeding: Definition, Promotion and Support Standards for more information. 1.4.1. A role description is available on the Training Supervisors web page on the Oregon WIC website. 1.4.2. Breastfeeding coordinators must be qualified as a CPA and either be an IBCLC or complete a state identified breastfeeding course. 1.4.3. 712—Breastfeeding: Breast Pump Ordering, Distribution and Tracking Guidelines indicate that an additional staff person can be designated to act as Breast Pump Coordinator.

Staffing Requirements, Continued 435.3

Training Supervisor: Each agency must designate one staff person who meets qualification requirements to fill this role.. See 440—Staff Training Requirements for required qualifications and a description of roles and responsibilities. 1.5.1. Resources to support the training supervisor are available on the Training Supervisors web page on the Oregon WIC website.

Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Coordinator: Those agencies with a Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program must designate one staff person who meets qualification requirements to fill this role. See 716—Breastfeeding Peer Counseling (BFPC) Program Requirements for required qualifications and a description of roles and responsibilities.

Breastfeeding Peer Counselor: Those agencies with a Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program must have adequate peer counselors to provide services for the agency’s assigned peer counseling caseload. See 716— Breastfeeding Peer Counseling (BFPC) Program Requirements for required qualifications and a description of roles and responsibilities. 2.0 Local programs must notify the state WIC program if there are any changes to the personnel filling the required roles of coordinator, nutritionist, training supervisor, or breastfeeding coordinator. See 400 – Local Program Overview: Responsibilities and Communications for more information. 3.0 The WIC Coordinator is the person responsible for ensuring that the local agency follows federal regulations and state policies and meets expected program outcomes. Because of this pivotal role, it is highly recommended that the WIC Coordinator be a WIC nutritionist or other health professional as defined in 660—Competent Professional Authority: Requirements.

WIC Coordinators fill the following leadership roles in their agency: • Primary contact between the state WIC program and the local agency • Program management and oversight o WIC program  Nutrition education activities  Annual Nutrition Services Plan  Breastfeeding support and promotion  Benefit distribution o Farm Direct Nutrition Program  Benefit distribution  Reporting o Breastfeeding Peer Counseling (when applicable) o Satellite clinics • Caseload management • Program integrity and compliance • Supervision of clinic – scheduling/coordinating • Develop outreach strategies and oversee outreach efforts • Network with community organizations and partners • Training – staff development • Policy/protocol development • Primary point of contact for WIC Biennial Review process

Staffing Requirements, Continued 435.4 • Assure adequate facilities, resources, data system access and equipment for service delivery

WIC Coordinators may also fill the following leadership roles in their agency: • Supervision of staff (including hiring and firing) • Administrative budgeting 4.0 Agencies may designate other staff positions as necessary to support local program functions. These may include (but are not limited to) clerical staff or staff who perform lab functions. 5.0 All WIC staff are required to complete training in order to perform the functions of their designated roles. See 440—Staff Training Requirements for details on staff training.

Staff filling the WIC leadership roles of coordinator, training supervisor, nutritionist, breastfeeding coordinator, or peer counselor coordinator will receive additional support and training from state staff, including quarterly conference calls for each role. 6.0 Staffing needs may vary depending on the number of participants served by the local program, the structure of the agency, and local decisions made about clinic operations. Due to this wide range of variations, the 2006 WIC Staffing Data Collection Project found that there is no single ideal staffing pattern or staff-to- participant ratio recommendation. Agencies may work with their state nutrition consultant to determine optimal staffing given their unique circumstances.

POLICY HISTORY Date * Major Revision, Minor revision 6/1/2016 Revision 3/9/2020 Minor Revision

The date located at the top of the policy is the implementation date unless an “effective date” is noted on the policy. Policies will become compliance findings 6 months from the implementation date. Release notes can be found in the corresponding document on the Policy and Procedure Manual page. *Major Revisions: Significant content changes made to policy. Minor Revisions: Minor edits, grammatical updates, clarifications, and/or formatting changes have occurred. Date of Origin: Date policy was initially released If you need this in large print or an alternate format, please call 971-673-0040. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.