Appendix B.1 WIC State Agency EBT (12) Advance Letter

Appendix B.1

WIC State Agency EBT (12) Advance Letter

[Date]

Name, Title

Agency

Address

Dear [WIC STATE AGENCY DIRECTOR—for 12 EBT 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 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 cooperation with three key data collection components:

1. 

   OMB Number: 0584-XXXX

   Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

   Telephone interview. Between September 2017 and February 2018 Insight will contact you to schedule a 50-minute telephone interview to collect information about your SA’s specific cost-containment practices, reasons for implementing certain practices and not others, and the effectiveness and challenges of those 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 also send you a form to record estimated administrative costs associated with your cost-containment practices.

2. WIC administrative certification data. Insight will request a limited number of certification variables on WIC participants at two points in time: October 2017 and March 2018. Insight will also request certification data on former WIC participants. The data will be used to prepare a sampling frame for a survey of current and former WIC participants and to obtain information on their characteristics and food package prescriptions.

3. Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) data. Insight will request EBT data from you at two points in time: October 2017 and March 2018. EBT data will be used to examine food selections, benefit redemption, and WIC food costs.

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.

Insight will contact you within the next 2 weeks to answer any questions you may have and to schedule a conference call to discuss the study components in more detail.

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