Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 48 - PUBLIC HEALTH-GENERAL › Part V - Preventive Health Services › Subpart 15 - Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) › Chapter 41 - General Provisions › Section V-4103 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The following
				  words and terms are defined for the purposes of this Subpart and for all
				  contracts, guidelines, instructions, forms and other documents related hereto.
Abbreviated Administrative Review
-a
					 procedure by which a vendor may appeal specified adverse actions by LA WIC to
					 an independent reviewer.
Above-50-Percent (A-50) Vendors
-vendors
					 that derive more than 50 percent of their annual food sales revenue from WIC
					 approved food items, and new vendor applicants expected to meet this criterion
					 under guidelines approved by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of
					 USDA.
Abuse
-diversion of resources away from
					 necessary LA WIC services benefits
Adjustment
-price adjustment.
Administrative Review
-Repealed.
Applicants
-pregnant women, breastfeeding
					 women, postpartum women, infants, and children who are applying to receive WIC
					 benefits, and the breastfed infants of applicant breastfeeding women.
					 Applicants include individuals who are currently participating in the program
					 but are re-applying because their certification period is about to
					 expire.
Authorized Supplemental Foods/WIC-Approved
					 Foods
-Repealed.
Authorized WIC Vendor
-a store owned by a
					 sole proprietorship, partnership, cooperative association, corporation, limited
					 liability company, or other business entity that is authorized by LA WIC to
					 provide WIC-approved food items to WIC participants under a retail food
					 delivery system. Each store must have a single, fixed location and must be
					 authorized separately from other stores owned by the business entity.
breastfeeding
-the practice of feeding a
					 mother's breastmilk to her infant(s) on an average frequency of at least once a
					 day.
breastfeeding Women
-women up to 1 year
					 postpartum who are breastfeeding their infants.
Cash-Value Voucher
(
CVV
)-a fixed-dollar amount check, voucher, electronic benefit
					 transfer (EBT) card or other document which is used by a participant to obtain
					 authorized fruits and vegetables.
Cash Value Benefit
-Cash value
					 voucher.
Cash Value Voucher
-a fixed-dollar amount
					 used by a participant to obtain authorized fruits and vegetables
Categorical Eligibility
-persons who meet
					 the definitions of pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women,
					 infants or children.
Certification
-the implementation of
					 criteria and procedures to assess and document each applicant's eligibility for
					 the program.
Change of Location
-Repealed.
Change of Ownership
-Repealed.
Change of Ownership
-a change that results
					 when all of the assets of the store are sold or transferred to a new owner or
					 business entity. This includes adding a new partner(s).
Children
-persons who have had their first
					 birthday but have not yet attained their fifth birthday.
Civil Money Penalty (CMP
)-a monetary
					 penalty imposed in lieu of disqualification as a sanction applied due to
					 inadequate participant access.
Clinic
-a facility where applicants are
					 certified.
CMP
-civil money penalty.
Competent Professional Authority
-an
					 individual on the staff of the local agency authorized to determine nutritional
					 risk and prescribe supplemental foods. The following persons are the only
					 persons the state agency may authorize to serve as a competent professional
					 authority: physicians, nutritionists (bachelor's or master's degree in
					 nutritional sciences, community nutrition, clinical nutrition, dietetics,
					 public health nutrition or home economics with emphasis in nutrition),
					 dieticians, registered nurses, physician's assistants (certified by the
					 National Committee on Certification of Physician's Assistants or certified by
					 the state medical certifying authority), or state or local medically trained
					 health officials. This definition also applies to an individual who is not on
					 the staff of the local agency but who is qualified to provide data upon which
					 nutritional risk determinations are made by a competent professional authority
					 on the staff of the local agency.
Competitive Price Criteria (CPC)
-the
					 prices a vendor or vendor applicant charges for a selection of WIC approved
					 food items as compared to the prices charged by other vendors within the same
					 vendor peer group.
Compliance Buy
-a covert, on-site
					 investigation in which a representative of the program poses as a WIC
					 participant, parent, or caretaker of an infant or child participant, or proxy,
					 conducts one or more WIC transactions, and does not reveal during the visit
					 that he or she is a program representative.
Compliance Investigation
-compliance buys
					 and/or inventory audits.
Confidential Participant
					 Information
-confidential applicant and WIC participant information is
					 any information about an applicant or WIC participant whether it is obtained
					 from the applicant or WIC participant, another source, or generated as a result
					 of WIC application, certification, or participation, that individually
					 identifies an applicant or WIC participant and/or family member(s). Applicant
					 or WIC participant information is confidential, regardless of the original
					 source.
Confidentiality
-Repealed.
Confidentiality Vendor Information
-any
					 information about a vendor (whether it is obtained from the vendor or any other
					 source) that individually identifies the vendor except for vendor's name,
					 address, telephone number, web site/email address, store type, and
					 authorization status.
Corrective Action Plan (CAP)
-a plan
					 submitted by a vendor to take remedial action(s) to correct a violation(s) of
					 LA WIC vendor rules and regulations.
Courtesies
-LA WIC requires vendors to
					 offer WIC participants the same services that are offered to other customers,
					 such as, but not limited to, helping the customer to obtain an item from a
					 shelf or from behind a counter, bagging food for the customer, and assisting
					 with loading the food into a vehicle.
CSFP
-the Commodity Supplemental Food
					 Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, authorized by
					 section 4 of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 [7 U.S.C.
					 1431(a)], as amended, and
					 governed by  7 CFR Part 247.
Days
-calendar days.
Deficiency
-inventory audit
					 deficiency.
Disqualification
-the act of ending the
					 program participation of a WIC participant, vendor or authorized state or local
					 agency.
Documentation
-the presentation of written
					 documents which substantiate statements made by an applicant, WIC participant,
					 person applying on behalf of an applicant, vendor, and/or vendor
					 applicant.
Drug
-
a. beverage containing alcohol;
b. controlled substance (having the meaning
				  given it in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C.
				  802(6)), as amended;
				  or
c. controlled substance analogue
				  (having the meaning given it in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act of
				  1970 [21 U.S.C.
				  802(32)], as amended.
Dual Participation
-simultaneous
					 participation in LA WIC in more than one WIC clinic.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)
-a method
					 that permits electronic access to WIC benefits using a card or other access
					 device approved by the Secretary of USDA.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Capable
-
					 demonstration by a vendor or vendor applicant that its cash register system or
					 payment device can accurately and securely obtain WIC food balances associated
					 with an EBT card, maintain the necessary files such as the authorized product
					 list, hot card file and claim file and successfully complete WIC EBT
					 purchases.
Electronic Signature
-an electronic sound,
					 symbol, or process, attached to or associated with an application or other
					 record and executed and or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the
					 record.
Equitable Treatment
-vendors will offer WIC
					 participants the same courtesies that are offered to other (non-WIC)
					 customers.
Family
-a group of related or nonrelated
					 individuals who are living together as one economic unit, except that residents
					 of a homeless facility or an institution shall not all be considered as members
					 of a single family.
FNS
-the Food and Nutrition Service of the
					 U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Food Costs
-the costs of supplemental
					 foods, determined in accordance with
					 7
					 CFR §
												246.14(b).
Food Delivery System
-the method used by
					 state and local agencies to provide WIC-approved foods items to WIC
					 participants.
Food Instrument (FI)
-Repeal.
Food Package
-WIC-eligible food items
					 designed to meet the special nutritional needs of the WIC participant and
					 issued in designated quantities and types.
Food Sales
-sales of all SNAP eligible
					 foods intended for home preparation and consumption, including meat, fish, and
					 poultry; bread and cereal products; dairy products; and fruits and vegetables.
					 Food items such as condiments and spices, coffee, tea, cocoa, and carbonated
					 and noncarbonated drinks may be included in food sales when offered for sale
					 along with foods in the categories identified above. Food sales do not include
					 sales of any items that cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits, such as hot
					 foods or food that will be eaten in the store.
Fraud
-regarding any and all LA WIC
					 matters, a misrepresentation or a suppression of the truth made with the
					 intention either to obtain an unjust advantage for a party or to cause a loss
					 or inconvenience to the other
Full Administrative Review
-a procedure by
					 which a vendor may appeal specified adverse actions by LA WIC to the Division
					 of Administrative Law of the Louisiana Department of the State Civil
					 Service.
Full Line Grocery Store
-Repealed.
Health Services
-ongoing, routine pediatric
					 and obstetric care (such as infant and child care and prenatal and postpartum
					 examinations) or referral for treatment.
Homeless Facility
-the following types of
					 facilities which provide meal service:
a. a supervised publicly or privately
				  operated shelter (including a welfare hotel or congregate shelter) designed to
				  provide temporary living accommodations;
b. a facility that provides a temporary
				  residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
c. a public or private place not designed
				  for, or normally used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human
				  beings.
Homeless Individual
-a woman, infant or
					 child:
a. who lacks a fixed and regular
				  nighttime residence; or
b. whose
				  primary nighttime residence is:
i. a
				  supervised publicly or privately operated shelter (including a welfare hotel, a
				  congregate shelter, or a shelter for victims of domestic violence) designated
				  to provide temporary living accommodation;
ii. an institution that provides a temporary
				  residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized;
iii. a temporary accommodation of not more
				  than 365 days in the residence of another individual; or
iv. a public or private place not designed
				  for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human
				  beings.
Incentive Items/Incentives
-an item or
					 service provided by a vendor to attract customers or encourage customer
					 loyalty.
Infant Formula
-a food that meets the
					 definition of an infant formula in
					 section
					 201(z) of the
					 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (21 U.S.C.
					 321(z)), and that meets the
					 requirements for an infant formula under
					 section
					 412 of the federal Food, Drug,
					 and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (21
					 U.S.C. 350a), as amended, and the regulations
					 at 21 CFR parts 106 and 107 published on April 1, 2021.
Institution
-any residential accommodation
					 which provides meal service, except private residences and homeless
					 facilities.
Infants
-persons under 1 year of
					 age.
Inventory Audit
-the examination of food
					 invoices or other proofs of purchase to determine whether a vendor has
					 purchased sufficient quantities of supplemental food(s) to provide WIC
					 participants with the quantity of supplemental food(s) redeemed during a given
					 period of time.
Inventory Audit Deficiency
-the monetary
					 value of a vendor's claimed reimbursement for the sale of supplemental food(s)
					 that exceeds the store's documented inventory of supplemental food(s) for a
					 specific period of time.
Judicial Review
-the procedure by which a
					 vendor may appeal a decision rendered at an administrative review, or a WIC
					 participant may appeal a decision rendered at a fair hearing.
LA WIC
-the Louisiana WIC Program.
Local
Agency-a public or private,
					 nonprofit or human service agency which provides health services, either
					 directly or through contract, in accordance with
					 7 CFR §
												246.5.
Maximum Allowable Reimbursement Level
					 (MARL)
- the highest reimbursement amount for WIC approved food items
					 for each peer group.
Migrant Farmworker
-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.
Monitoring
-routine monitoring.
Monitoring Review
-routine monitoring.
Non-A50 Vendors
-Repealed.
Nonprofit Agency
-a private agency which is
					 exempt from federal income tax under the
Internal Revenue Code
of 1954, (title 26 of the U.S.C), as amended.
Nutrition Education
-individual and group
					 sessions and the provision of materials that are designed to improve health
					 status and achieve positive change in dietary and physical activity habits, and
					 that emphasize the relationship between nutrition, physical activity, and
					 health, all in keeping with the personal and cultural preferences of the
					 individual.
Nutritional Risk
-
a. detrimental abnormal nutritional
				  conditions detectable by biochemical or anthropometric measurements;
b. other documented nutritionally related
				  medical conditions;
c. dietary
				  deficiencies that impair or endanger health;
d. conditions that directly affect the
				  nutritional health of a person, including alcoholism or drug abuse;
				  or
e. conditions that predispose
				  persons to inadequate nutritional patterns or nutritionally related medical
				  conditions, including, but not limited to, homelessness and migrancy
Other Harmful Substances
-other substances
					 such as tobacco, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications that can
					 be harmful to the health of the WIC population, especially the pregnant woman
					 and her fetus.
Participant Access
-the ability of a WIC
					 participant to adequately access WIC approved food items from vendors for which
					 LA WIC has established participant access criteria in accordance with federal
					 regulations at  7 CFR part 246.
Participant Violation
-any intentional
					 action of a WIC participant, caregiver or a proxy that violates federal or
					 state statutes, regulations, policies or procedures governing the
					 program.
Participants
-pregnant women, breastfeeding
					 women, postpartum women, infants and children who are receiving WIC approved
					 food items or cash-value vouchers under the program, and the breastfed infants
					 of WIC participant breastfeeding women.
Participation
-the sum of the number
					 of:
a. persons who received WIC
				  approved food items or cash-value vouchers during the reporting
				  period;
b. infants who did not
				  receive WIC approved food items or cash-value vouchers but whose breastfeeding
				  mother received WIC approved food items or cash-value vouchers during the
				  report period; and
c. breastfeeding
				  women who did not receive WIC approved food items or cash-value vouchers but
				  whose infant received WIC approved food items or cash-value vouchers during the
				  report period.