Sec.19a-59c-1. Definitions

As used in Sections 19a-59c-1 to 19a-59c-6, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:

(a) "Allowable Costs" means "food costs" and "administrative and program services costs" in accordance with 7 CFR 246.14.

(b) "Applicant" means a person who appears in person at the local WIC office to request WIC program benefits.

(c) "Authorized Foods" means foods authorized by the department for purchase with WIC checks.

(d) "Authorized Vendor" means a food store or pharmacy that has met the minimum qualifications for participation and has been approved for authorization by the Connecticut WIC Program and has entered into a duly executed contract with the Department of Public Health.

(e) "Breastfeeding Women" means women up to one year postpartum who are breastfeeding their infants an average of at least once per day.

(f) "Caseload Management" means the process of distributing the program resources to the neediest individuals.

(g) "Category" means an indication of whether an individual is a pregnant woman, breastfeeding woman, postpartum woman, infant or child.

(h) "Categorical Eligibility" means persons who meet the definitions of pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, or infants or children.

(i) "Certification" means the implementation of criteria and procedures to assess and document each applicant's eligibility for the program.

(j) "Certified" means that an applicant has been determined eligible by a Competent Professional Authority to receive program benefits.

(k) "Certification Period" means the period which begins on the date the individual is certified. Duration of the certification period is defined as follows:

(1) for pregnant women - the duration of pregnancy and up to six weeks postpartum,

(2) for postpartum women - up to six months after the termination of pregnancy,

(3) for breastfeeding women - intervals of approximately six months and ending with the breastfed infant's first birthday,

(4) for infants and children - approximately six months. Infants under six months of age may, when authorized by the department, be certified for a period extending up to their first birthday.

(l) "Children" means persons who have had their first birthday but have not yet attained their fifth birthday.

(m) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the State Department of Public Health.

(n) "Competent Professional Authority (CPA)" means a physician licensed in Connecticut, nutritionist, dietitian, registered nurse licensed in Connecticut, Physician's assistant as defined in Section 20-12a, as amended, of the general statutes.

(o) "Contract Account" means any line item of the local agency budget annexed to the local agency contract.

(p) "Coordinated Program" means a program of dietetic training approved by the American Dietetic Association that provides for the integration of didactic instruction with a minimum of 900 hours of supervised dietetic practice within an academic program.

(q) "Denial" means the act of refusal to accept an application for participation of an individual applicant, food vendor, or local agency.

(r) "Days" means calendar days.

(s) "Department" means the State Department of Public Health.

(t) "Dietitian" means an individual who is registered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the American Dietetic Association or who is eligible to take the registration examination.

(u) "Dietetics" means a health science concerned with the application of nutrition principles and services to achieving individuals' health throughout life and in the treatment of disease.

(v) "Disqualification" means the act of ending the Program participation of a participant for the remainder of the certification period; an authorized food vendor for a specified period of time; or contracted local agency for the remainder of the contract period. Disqualification may be done for either a punitive sanction or for administrative reasons.

(w) "Dual Participation" means simultaneous participation in the program in one or more than one local agency during the same period of time.

(x) "Potential Dual Application Report" means a computer generated list used by the State WIC Program to identify actual and possible simultaneous participation in more than one local agency.

(y) "Enrolled" means certified by a CPA and listed by a local agency to receive benefits subject to availability of funds.

(z) "Equipment" means tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $100.00 or more per unit.

(aa) "Family" means a group of related or nonrelated individuals who are not residents of an institution but who are living together as one economic unit except that residents of a homeless facility should not be considered as a single family.

(bb) "Food Delivery Systems" means the methods used by the State WIC Program to provide supplemental foods to participants.

(cc) "Food Instrument" means a check which is used by a participant to obtain supplemental foods.

(dd) "General Waiting List" means a list of individuals who have not been certified, but who are potentially eligible to receive WIC benefits.

(ee) "High Risk Criteria" means nutritional risk criteria defined in the State WIC Manual, as amended.

(ff) "High Risk Participant" means a participant presenting with one or more high risk criteria.

(gg) "Homeless Individual" means:

(1) an individual who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence; or

(2) an individual whose primary nighttime residence is:

(A) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter (including a welfare hotel or congregate shelter) designed to provide temporary living accommodations; or

(B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

(C) a temporary accommodation in the residence of another individual not to exceed 365 days; or

(D) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

(hh) "Indirect Costs" means costs which are (i) incurred for a common or joint purpose benefiting more than one cost objective, and (ii) not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefited, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved. This term applies to costs of this type originating in the grantee department, as well as those incurred by other departments in supplying goods, services, and facilities, to the grantee department.

(ii) "Infants" means persons under one year of age.

(jj) "Local Agency" means an administrative unit of a health or human service agency, public or private, under contract with the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health to administer the WIC Program in a designated area of the State.

(kk) "Migrant" means an individual whose principal employment is in agriculture on a seasonal basis, who has been so employed within the last 24 months, and who establishes, for the purposes of such employment, a temporary abode.

(ll) "Nutrition Aide" means an individual other than a nutritionist who is paid either in whole or in part by the local WIC Program and whose primary responsibility is the provision of paraprofessional nutrition services.

(mm) "Nutrition Education" means individual or group education sessions and the provision of information and educational materials designed to improve health status, achieve positive change in dietary habits, and emphasize relationships between nutrition and health, all in keeping with the individual's personal, cultural, and socioeconomic preferences.

(nn) "Nutritional Risk" means:

(1) detrimental or abnormal nutritional conditions detectable by biochemical or anthropometric measurements;

(2) other documented nutritionally related medical conditions;

(3) dietary deficiencies that impair or endanger health; or

(4) conditions that predispose persons to inadequate nutritional patterns or nutritionally related medical conditions.

(oo) "Nutritionist" means an individual who is paid either in whole or in part by the local WIC Program and whose primary responsibility is the provision of nutrition services. This person shall hold a bachelor's or master's degree in clinical nutrition, community nutrition, dietetics, home economics with an emphasis in nutrition, nutritional sciences, or public health nutrition from a four year or post baccalaureate institution which is accredited by a recognized regional accrediting body.

(pp) "Outreach" means the systematic attempt to provide services to the entire WIC eligible community.

(qq) "Outreach Materials" means printed material, films, video tapes, audio tapes and other communications media which are used in the process of alerting the WIC eligible community to the service of the WIC Program.

(rr) "Participant" means pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, infants and children who are receiving supplemental foods or food instruments under the WIC Program.

(ss) "Participant Abuse" means the participant's knowing and deliberate misrepresentation to obtain WIC benefits; verbal or physical abuse or threat of physical abuse of local agency, department, clinic or vendor staff or property by a participant; the sale of supplemental foods or checks or their exchange for credit or purchase of unauthorized food or other items by a participant or other violations of state or federal law.

(tt) "Physician's Assistant" means an individual who meets the requirements of Section 20-12a, as amended, of the General Statutes.

(uu) "Postpartum Women" means women up to six months after termination of pregnancy.

(vv) "Pregnant Women" means women determined to have one or more embryos or fetuses in utero.

(ww) "Priority System" means the basis for assigning degree of nutritional risk, as specified in the State WIC Manual, as amended.

(xx) "Priority Waiting List" means a list of potentially eligible individuals according to priority.

(yy) "Recognized Regional Accrediting Body" means one of the following regional accrediting bodies: New England Association of Schools and Colleges; Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges; Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

(zz) "Regression" means the deterioration of nutritional status which may result from termination of WIC benefits, as determined by a CPA.

(aaa) "Service Area" means any office, room or space where the WIC Program operates. It includes all reception areas, waiting rooms, interviewing offices or locations, check distribution areas, and offices and other areas used for certification or nutrition education.

(bbb) "State WIC Manual" means the most recent standards established by the Commissioner for implementation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, available from the department and hereby incorporated into the Regulations of State Agencies, Sections 19a-59c-1 through 19a-59c-6.

(ccc) "State WIC Program" means the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children which is administered by the Department of Public Health in accordance with the United States Department of Agriculture regulations, 7 CFR 246.1, through 246.28, as amended.

(ddd) "Suspension" means a temporary period during which a vendor or participant is prohibited from participation in the program for reasons of abuse or continued inability to meet program requirements, but is not disqualified.

(eee) "SWIS" means the Statewide WIC Information System which is a system of computer programs, manuals, and reports.

(fff) "Vendor" means any retail grocer, pharmacy, supermarket, or other food store.

(Effective March 2, 1993; Amended April 3, 1998)