This memorandum seeks to ensure that current Food and Nutrition Service guidance pertaining to federal civil rights and nondiscrimination obligations remains aligned with applicable laws, regulations, executive orders and directives relevant to the agency’s 16 nutrition assistance programs.
This agenda provides summary descriptions of significant and not significant regulations being developed in agencies of the USDA in conformance with Executive Orders 12866, “Regulatory Planning and Review,” 13563, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,” 14192, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” and 14219, “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's “Department of Government Efficiency” Deregulatory Initiative.”
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), which was signed into law in March 2021, provided USDA with $390 million and waiver authority for outreach, innovation, and program modernization in WIC and the WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program. FNS is interested in understanding the implementation and outcomes related to these modernization efforts.
This toolkit is intended to help state agencies create easy-to-use online applications that eligible people can use to start the certification process for WIC.
One critical step in setting up an online WIC application is deciding what software to use. The features recommended in this article are based on market research; a review of all existing WIC online applications; and interviews with state agency staff, local agency staff, and people eligible for WIC about their online application needs.
WIC state agencies can use this toolkit as a resource as they develop their online WIC applications.