Summary
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment on this proposed information collection for the WIC Tribal Organizations and U.S. Territories Study. This is a new information collection request. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program to improve the health of nutritionally at-risk women and children. WIC is one of the nation's most successful public health nutrition programs. This study involves all 32 Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs, “Tribal Organizations”) and 5 U.S. territories that operate WIC state agencies, five tribally operated local WIC agencies, and approximately 15 geographic state agencies that share a border with a Tribal Organization. This study aims to inform FNS about variations in operations among Tribal Organizations, U.S. territories, and geographic states administering WIC as local and state agencies. The results of the study may inform efforts to improve WIC program operations and participant services.
Request for Comments
Written comments must be received on or before Aug. 12, 2025.
Comments may be sent to Dr. Karen Castellanos-Brown, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, or submitted via email at Karen.Castellanos-Brown@usda.gov. Comments will also be accepted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will be a matter of public record.
Abstract
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) improves the health of nutritionally at-risk women and children and is recognized as one of the nation's most successful public health nutrition programs. Eighty-eight state agencies, including 5 U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) and 32 Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs, “Tribal Organizations”), currently administer WIC. While WIC program requirements are the same across all WIC state agencies, there is flexibility in adapting the program to the local context. This flexibility can create variation in the experiences of WIC program staff and participants. For instance, WIC agencies from geographic states traditionally contract with local agencies to provide direct services to participants. However, nearly all WIC agencies in Tribal Organizations and U.S. territories conduct state agency-level functions and provide direct WIC services.
FNS is conducting the WIC Tribal Organizations and U.S. Territories Study to learn more about how WIC agencies in Tribal Organizations and U.S. territories administer and operate the program. The results will inform FNS about differences in WIC program operations and experiences among Tribal Organizations, U.S. territories, and geographic state agencies and can inform possible program improvements. Study objectives include:
- Comprehensively describe WIC program administration and operations among ITOs and territories operating as state and local agencies.
- Understand the facilitators and barriers to WIC program administration and operations among ITOs and territories operating state and local agencies.
- Examine and describe the differences in WIC state agency-level policy, service delivery, and operations between ITOs and U.S. territories and geographic state agencies.
- Obtain information to inform determination of WIC coverage rates among ITOs and territories.
The study takes a qualitative case study approach and will gather information from the following sources: (a) extant data; (b) interviews with WIC directors (all 32 state agency-level Tribal Organizations, all five Tribally operated local WIC agencies, and 15 geographic state agencies); and (c) site visits to 20 selected Tribal Organizations and U.S. territories. Site visits will include interviews with WIC clinic staff and observations of the clinic environment, participant appointments, and WIC-authorized retailers.1
1 Observations of the clinic environment and WIC-authorized retailers are passive observations in public space and will not involve burden on participants.