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Background 

The project, conducted by Burger, Carroll & 

Associates, Inc., is a component of ongoing 

Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) efforts to 

effectively develop administrative data 

collection on important issues in local level WIC 

staffing. This WIC Staffing Data Collection 

pilot project was prompted by a 2001 General 

Accounting Office (GAO) report that: cited a 

range of quality of services between local WIC 

agencies; expressed concern that local agencies 

may not be able to provide adequate services; 

and cited a need for improved professionalism 

and quality of service, as well as enhanced 

availability of professional staff to provide direct 

services. 

USDA determined that additional data are 

required to adequately respond to GAO’s 

concerns and other requests for information. 

The goal of this project was to aid FNS in 

identifying staffing items/questions that can 

successfully be answered by WIC local 

agencies. Both paper-and-pencil and electronic 

based administrative reporting instruments were 

developed and pilot tested in this project. 

Along with literature review and public and 

advisory panel comment, the project provides 

suggestions by twelve WIC local agencies that 

volunteered to pilot test the instruments. These 

agencies provided feedback on items/questions 

in order to maximize data quality and minimize 

respondent burden. 

Findings 

The report indicates that: 

• Many factors other than caseload have 

been identified that may influence WIC 

local staffing needs and current staffing 

patterns. 

• There is not a common nationwide 

understanding of the definition of 

professional or paraprofessional 

(nutrition) staff. 

• With some limitations, it is feasible to 

collect useful staffing related 

information from local WIC agencies in 

either an electronic or paper format. 

However, burden on local agencies must 

be considered. 

• While similar agencies may have best 

practices to offer each other, it would be 

most challenging to apply national 

standards in all circumstances. 

All available evidence from past studies as well 

as this pilot shows great variety in how local 

WIC agencies are organized and how they 

address staffing patterns. WIC’s strength in 

delivering its services and nutritional benefits 

has been in reaching even the most remote 

niches of the U.S. population. As an adjunct to 

local health care systems, flexible WIC staffing 

patterns have been a factor in past success. 

Increased standardization of State/Tribal WIC 

Management Information Systems has aided in 

offsetting the variety in WIC staffing to bring 

similar treatment and uniform food benefit 

delivery processes across each State/Tribal 

jurisdiction. 

This data collection and review effort identified 

three important areas in moving forward to 

address WIC local agency staffing needs and 

patterns: 

• Come to a common vocabulary within 

the WIC community regarding the terms 

nutrition professional and 

paraprofessional. 

• Identify or refine performance measures 

that constitute quality services, 

including the average amount of 

WIC STAFFING DATA COLLECTION 

PROJECT

Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation January 2006
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professional staff time that is needed on 

an individual basis for WIC participants. 

• Continue support to State and local 

agencies in their ongoing efforts to 

define requirements for staff training, 

including budgeting specific allocations. 

The report also includes discussion of issues 

surrounding the data collection instruments 

during the course of the pilot study. 

For More Information 

“WIC Staffing Data Collection Project,” 

Special Nutrition Program Report Series, No. 

WIC-05-WS, Project Officer: Ed Herzog. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and 

Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, 

Nutrition, and Evaluation, Alexandria, VA, 

2005. 

The full report, as well as the data collection 

instruments used, can be found on-line at: 

www.fns.usda.gov/oane. The data collection 

instruments were pilot-tested as part of this 

project, and the report includes 

recommendations for revisions to the current 

instruments. 

For additional information on the concerns 

identified by GAO, see GAO-02-142 Report 

to Congressional Committees, “WIC Faces 

Challenges in Providing Nutrition Services”, 

December 2001. The full report can be found 

on-line at: 

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02142.pdf 

For more information on WIC staffing 

issues, see the FNS co-sponsored report 

prepared by the Association of State and 

Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors 

(ASTPHND) “Survey of the Public Health 

Nutrition Workforce 1999-2000”. The 

executive summary can be found on-line at: 

http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Publish

ed/WIC/FILES/publichealthsurvey.htm 

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