This report summarizes the results of the Child Care Assessment Project (CCAP), which was undertaken by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) during the period 2004-2007.
Since 1992, FNS has produced biennial reports on WIC participant and program characteristics based on the WIC Minimum Data Set compiled from state management information systems. The 20 items included in the MDS are collected as part of ongoing WIC operations and consist primarily of in formation related to participant eligibility.
The purpose of the study was to learn the extent to which retail grocers, defined as "vendors" in the WIC Program, authorized to provide food to WIC participants, were violating program rules and procedures, and to determine which programmatic and/or demographic variables could be associated with vendor violations.
This report (1) identifies the number and nature of recent studies that have examined the effectiveness of three WIC services—nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referral services—and (2) summarizes what the research shows about the effectiveness of these specific nutrition services.
This report responds to a Congressional mandate for the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to establish a long-range plan for the development and implementation of state agency Information Systems (IS) in the WIC program. In the development of this plan, FNS reviewed state agency system capabilities and consulted with the National WIC Association as well as systems experts. The WIC 5-Year Technology Plan included in this Report to Congress outlines the Agency’s goals, objectives, and strategies to address the current and future needs of WIC systems.
GAO Report to Congressional Committees on Food Assistance: Performance Measures for Assessing Three WIC Services
The NSLP offers free and reduced-price school meals to students from eligible households. Households with incomes at or below 130 percent of poverty are eligible for free meals, and households with incomes between 131 percent and 185 percent of poverty are eligible for reduced-price meals. Traditionally, to receive these benefits, households had to complete and submit application forms to schools or be directly certified. Direct certification, on the other hand, is a method of eligibility determination that does not require families to complete school meal applications. Instead, school officials use documentation from the local or state welfare agency that indicates that a household participates in AFDC or food stamps as the basis for certifying students for free school meals.
GAO Report to Congressional Committees on Food Assistance: Financial Information on WIC Nutrition Services and Administrative Costs