WIC EBT Feasibility Study and Cost‐Benefit Analysis

Virginia Department of Health WIC EBT Feasibility Study and Cost-Benefit Analysis
APPENDIX B: BASELINE ANALYSIS
3. CURRENT ENVIRONMENT
This section provides an overview of the stakeholders and processes undertaken related to the
paper-based issuance, redemption and payment process.
3.1 ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
3.1.1 STATE-LEVEL PROGRAM OFFICE
The WIC Program is managed by VDH, Office of Family
Health Services, Division of WIC & Community Nutrition
Services (herein referred to as WIC Services).
WIC Services supports the State’s WIC Program by
providing policies and procedures, materials and equipment,
nutrition services, local clinic oversight and vendor
management, and by managing the current banking
contractor, Covansys. WIC Services consists of Operations,
Support, Vendor, Nutrition and Technical Teams, as well as a Business Unit.
Director of WIC Services
The WIC Services Director provides management and oversight of all aspects of the WIC
Program. The Director’s direct involvement with the paper-based system is limited to
preparation for and participation in meetings with WIC vendors who were found to be noncompliant
with specific vendor policies that are likely to be mitigated or eliminated by an e-WIC
system.
Operations Team
This Team provides technical support and operational oversight to local agencies and clinics. It
supports WIC policy creation and promulgation, ensuring that WIC policies are in line with
Federal requirements and guidelines and are available to and understood by local staff. The
Team consists of staff who conduct management and fiscal evaluations of local clinics, using the
Local Agency Management Evaluation (LAME) tool, created to facilitate State audits of local
clinics. Audits include assessing clinic security and processes related to paper FI issuance. The
Team also ensures that local clinics have appropriate and sufficient magnetic ink character
recognition (MICR) printers, including back-up reserve printers, for printing FIs, and maintains
the database of printer serial numbers.
Support Team
The Mission of the Virginia
Department of Health and the
Board of Health is to achieve
and maintain optimum personal
and community health by
emphasizing health promotion,
disease prevention, emergency
preparedness, and
environmental protection.
This Team includes staff who provide help desk support to the local clinics. Calls may be
questions or problem reports concerning WICNET, the current WIC management information
37 V 1.2 August 20, 2008 Appendix B: Baseline Analysis