605.1 Policy 605 Processing Standards April 5, 2019 (Revised) POLICY Local programs shall certify eligible applicants within 10 calendar days of the date of application if the applicant is a pregnant woman or a migrant farm worker or a family member of a migrant farm worker. All other eligible applicants will be certified within 20 calendar days. If the maximum caseload is being served, these standards do not apply. PURPOSE To ensure that potential participants receive WIC benefits in a timely manner and in order of need, i.e., those groups at highest risk would receive faster service. RELEVANT REGULATIONS 7 CFR §246.7¶(f)—Processing Standards OREGON WIC PPM REFERENCES

♦ 475—Waiting List ♦ 601—Physical Presence at Certification TWIST TRAINING MANUAL REFERENCE Chapter 3, Lesson 100 – Applicant Prescreening Chapter 7, Lesson 100- Standard and QA Reports DEFINITIONS Date of application: The date when an applicant visits a local program during clinic office hours to request program benefits. For applicants requesting an eligibility appointment by phone, the date of the first visit, regardless of its purpose, is the start of the 10/20 day processing time frame. Maximum caseload: The number of participants served by a local agency that meets or exceeds 103% of the caseload level assigned to them by the State WIC program. PROCEDURE Initial clinic visit to request WIC services 1.0 The processing time frame begins with the applicant’s first visit to the WIC clinic to request WIC services. When applicants initially visit the WIC clinic to request program benefits, follow these steps: 1.1. Determine if processing standards apply. If the maximum caseload is not being served, then the standards apply. If the maximum caseload is being served, refer to processing standards in 475—Waiting List.

Processing Standards, Continued 605.2 1.2. In the “Applicant Prescreening” function in the Management Information System (MIS), document the applicant’s name, address, contact type (“Walk- in”), and whether the applicant is a migrant farm worker. 1.3. Determine the applicant’s category: i.e., pregnant or breastfeeding woman, infant, or child. 10 day standard 1.3.1. Offer an appointment for eligibility determination within 10 calendar days of the date of application if the applicant is a pregnant woman, a migrant farm worker, or a family member of a migrant farm worker. If an applicant requests an appointment for a date past the 10 day standard, document this request in the notes section of the applicant’s record. EXAMPLE: A pregnant woman comes into the WIC clinic and asks for an appointment to enroll in WIC. She is offered an appointment five days from now, but she is unable to make that appointment. The next available new appointment is two weeks from now, which falls outside of the 10 day standard. Document this preference to indicate compliance with the processing standards. 20 day standard 1.3.2. Offer an appointment for eligibility determination within 20 calendar days of the date of application for all applicants not defined in ¶1.3.1. If the applicant requests an appointment for a date past the 20 day standard, document this request in the notes section of the applicant’s record. Telephone request 1.4. The date of application and the date of the first visit to the clinic are the same for applicants who make appointments over the telephone. 1.4.1. In the “Applicant Prescreening” function in the MIS, document name, address and contact type (“Phone”). Offer the next available appointment for eligibility determination. No shows 1.5. For applicants who are marked “no show” for certification appointments, the processing time frame of 10/20 days ends with the missed appointment. The processing time frame begins again when the applicant reapplies. The applicant must be certified, if eligible, within 10/20 days from the second (new) date of application. In the event of a cycle of making and missing appointments, the 10/20 day standard ends with each missed appointment. 1.6. The local program must make additional appointments available to applicants/participants if the processing standards are not being met due to a lack of available appointments. Monitoring Processing Standards 1.7. Local programs may use the Processing Standards Compliance report in the MIS to monitor processing standards.

Processing Standards, Continued 605.3 Extension request 1.8. Local programs may request a temporary extension of the 10 day standard to a maximum of 15 days. The request must be in writing to the State WIC program and must include a brief statement explaining the need for an extension and the estimated length of time for the extension. For example, a rapidly increasing caseload or large staff turnover might indicate the need for a temporary extension. Physical presence requirement 1.9. Anyone applying for WIC must be physically present at each certification. This is to maintain the integrity of WIC by helping to prevent fraud. See 601— Physical Presence at Certification for more information and exceptions. Rescheduling pregnant women 2.0 The local program must attempt to contact pregnant women who miss their first appointment for program eligibility determination to try and reschedule the appointment. 2.1. An automated “missed appointment” call for a missed new prenatal appointment meets the minimum requirement for contacting pregnant women to reschedule an appointment. Appointments for employed adults 3.0 Local programs are encouraged to offer alternative hours to accommodate employed adults. Examples of alternative hours include evening, weekend, and lunch time.

Special considerations 4.0 For clinics that are open only one day per month, offer an appointment within 10/20 days at another clinic site to applicants visiting the clinic. Applicants may request an appointment for a date past the processing time frame at clinics that are open only one day per month. Document this request in the notes section of the applicant’s record.

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Processing Standards, Continued 605.4 POLICY HISTORY Date * Revised, Reviewed, Released 10-31-2008 Revised 2-8-2012 Revised 4-5-2019 Released

The date located at the top of the policy is the date of the most recent release. Policies are to be implemented on release date and will become compliance findings 6 months from the release date. *Released: Significant changes made to policy. Release notes can be found in the corresponding document on the Policy and Procedure Manual page. Reviewed: The writer looked at this policy to make sure it was still accurate. Formatting changes may have occurred. Revised: Minor edits or formatting has occurred without need for release. USDA has accepted a policy and watermark is reviewed. Date of Origin: Date policy was initially released