Appendix A.1 WIC State Agency (58) Advance Letter

Appendix A.1

WIC State Agency (58) Advance Letter

[Date]

Name, Title

OMB Number: 0584-XXXX

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Agency

Address

Dear [WIC STATE AGENCY DIRECTOR—for 58 State Agencies],

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is conducting a study of the strategies used by WIC State agencies (SAs) to contain food package costs. The purpose of the study is to gather information on the major types of WIC cost-containment practices used by WIC SAs, assess the effectiveness of various practices, and identify those practices that effectively constrain the cost of WIC foods with few or no adverse effects on program outcomes. FNS has contracted with Insight Policy Research (Insight), an independent research organization, to conduct the study.

As part of the study, we are requesting your participation in a 45-minute telephone interview to discuss the practices your SA uses to contain WIC food package costs. The interview will ask questions about your SA’s specific cost-containment practices, reasons for implementing certain practices and not others, the effectiveness and challenges of those practices, and administrative burdens associated with the practices. Before the interview, Insight will forward you a summary of your SA’s cost-containment practices based on information abstracted from your food list and State plan. Insight will review and verify this information with you at the start of the interview.

Insight will contact you within the next two weeks to answer any questions you have, to schedule the telephone interview, and to send you the abstracted information on your SA’s cost-containment practices for your review.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation and important contributions to this study. The information your SA provides will be used by FNS and other WIC SAs to make informed decisions about effective cost-containment practices.

The attached fact sheet provides more information about the study and timeline. If you have additional questions, please contact Ruth Morgan, the FNS Project Officer, at ruth.morgan@fns.usda.gov or 703-457-7759, or Carole Trippe, the Insight Project Director, at ctrippe@insightpolicyresearch.gov or 703-504-9498.

Sincerely,

Sarah Widor

Director, Supplemental Food Programs Division

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 2 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Food and Nutrition Service