WIC Technology for a Better WIC Experience – Communications, Data, and Metrics Grant

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (PL 117-2, ARPA) provided the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with $390 million, available through fiscal year (FY) 2024, to carry out outreach, innovation, and program modernization efforts to increase participation and redemption of benefits in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

As part of the WIC innovation and modernization efforts to be funded under ARPA, FNS will provide non-competitive grants to WIC state agencies for planning and implementation of technology enhancements that improve the WIC participant experience, as evidenced by increasing participant enrollment, reducing unnecessary administrative burden for both participants and administrators, and retaining eligible participants while improving equity. This funding may be used for a wide range of planning and/or implementation activities.

State agencies are encouraged to apply for funding regardless of where they are in the process of modernizing. State agencies are encouraged to use human centered design ;to plan for and/or implement projects to improve communication and/or reduce the burden on WIC participants, applicants, and/or eligible individuals by allowing them to interact with the program more easily; reduce the burden on local agency and clinic staff by streamlining operations related to the participant experience; define measures to assess participant satisfaction and experience; embed mechanisms for continuous participant feedback in line with government-wide standards for customer experience; and embed data collection efforts to enable evaluation and continuous learning.

Eligibility & Funding Levels

This is an announcement of the availability of non-competitive funding to be awarded in FY 2022 to WIC state agencies. A total of $31,150,000 is available for FY 2022. Using the same approach, additional rounds of funding may be made available in FY 2023 through the end of FY 2024 for state agencies that did not receive funding under this announcement, and for future phases of projects, pending the availability of remaining funding. All 89 WIC state agencies are eligible to apply for $350,000 in grant funding under this announcement to be awarded in FY 2022. Only one application per state agency will be considered. State agencies may apply for funding on their own or as part of a multi-state agency collaboration. A lead state agency must be selected for a multi-state agency collaboration.

Grants will be awarded on a non-competitive basis. All eligible state agencies that submit a complete application package consistent with the goals and objectives outlined in the Use of Funds section of this announcement will receive $350,000 in grant funding. Funding requests as outlined in the SF-424A must be reasonable, allowable, and allocable to the project goals and objectives. Funding of these awards will be provided through the Grant Award FNS-529/Letter of Credit process. The awards will be made via a grant agreement between FNS and the grantee. The period of performance for this award will be from Sept. 26, 2022 through Sept. 30, 2024. State agencies must obligate grant funds by Sept. 30, 2024.

How to Apply

To request $350,000 in grant funding under this announcement, interested state agencies or multi-state agency collaborations must submit all requested information in suggested template Attachment A: Non-Competitive Technology for a Better WIC Experience – Communications, Data, and Metrics Grant Proposal Template via email to their respective FNS regional office with cc: to SM.FNCS.WIC.Innovation@usda.gov. State agencies must complete all information in Attachment A to be considered. Applications must be received no later than 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. Late applications will not be considered.

All standard forms (SF) listed below can be found on Grants.gov here. A complete application will include:

• Attachment A: Non-Competitive Technology for a Better WIC Experience – Communications, Data, and Metrics Grant (to be completed by state agency)
• SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance
• SF-424A Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs
  • Please submit a budget request (SF-424 Form) for $350,000 per grantee or per member of a multi-state agency collaboration. For multi-state agency collaborations, the lead state agency will be responsible for the funds. FNS may adjust the award amount depending on the availability of funds.
• SF-424B Assurances for Non-Construction Programs
• SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

Note for projects that impact EBT/MIS: Prior to the state agency obligating or expending funds under the awarded grant, it must submit to the regional office a description of the contract and/or procurement efforts to support the project, including any changes made to the MIS or EBT system/contract. In the submission, the state agency must highlight any changes to the total cost of the MIS/EBT contract and any changes to the period of performance. FNS reserves the right to request additional documentation, but will conduct an expedited review, where possible.

For more information, including use of funds, award and reporting requirements, and FNS participation, please refer to the Notice of Funding Availability.

Attachments

• Notice of Funding Availability
• Proposal Template (Microsoft Word Version)