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ONLY ONE WOMAN PER HOUSEHOLD
The State Consultants have received a couple of questions about families with more than one woman receiving WIC services. When this occurs, each woman should be in her own WIC household and the infant she gives birth to linked to her record. Please keep in mind that households should only ever have one woman in them.
April 13, 2023,HuBERT Hints
Food Package 7 Always Provides 1 Lb. of Cheese
Food Package 7 contains 1 lb. of cheese that cannot be substituted for any other milk items. If the lb. of cheese is removed, the food calculator will indicate that there are 3 quarts available. However, if you try to add 3 more quarts of another milk food item (for example, tofu) a message will display indicating that you’ve exceeded the limit. Women receiving Food Package 7 are eligible to receive 27 quarts of milk items but 3 of those quarts are dedicated to cheese.
June 2015 HuBERT Hints #2
Early Issuance and Issuing 6-Month Set of Benefits to Fully BF Infants
When issuing benefits to a fully breastfed infant, in some instances, the system will not suggest the 6-month benefits. This doesn’t occur consistently since it is based on meeting specific criteria relative to when the infant was first certified and the dates of their cycle. However, the following is a general explanation why this may occur.
The benefit issuance cycle hasn’t yet been set when issuing to a fully bf infant who is currently less than 6 months old. This means they don’t have a Last Date to Use (LDTU) associated with their record. In order to set their cycle, the system must sync them to another household member, usually the mom.
If mom were to come in early for her next set of tri-monthly benefits the system will attempt to sync the baby to mom’s cycle. Since baby doesn’t have a LDTU, the system will set her cycle as if issuing late benefits for baby. If baby is turning 6 months old at the end of that tri-monthly period, you might expect her to receive benefits for the last set that mom receives. In most cases, this may be true but in some cases, baby won’t be issued any benefits.
Here is a specific example to help with the general explanation of when a baby won’t be suggested benefits:
Baby was born on 12/11/2014. Her 6-month birthday is 6/11/215.
Mom has received benefits up through April, 2015 and has come in to clinic to receive May, June and July benefits early on April 30.
- Mom’s cycle is the 6th to the 5th. Mom is issued benefits for:
- 5/6-6/5 (May)
- 6/6-7/5 (June)
- 7/6-8/5 (July)
Baby is eligible to receive benefits for infant foods in July (not June because her birthday, June 11, is not before the PFDTU of the cycle).
- When issuing the system sees that the baby doesn’t have a LDTU and since this is early issuance for mom, it attempts to provide late issuance for the baby. It syncs baby up with a late partial package and her issuance cycles are:
- 4/30-5/5 (April)
- 5/6-6/5 (May)
- 6/6-7/5 (June) - Baby doesn’t receive any benefits at this pick-up
- In order for baby to receive July benefits, mom would have to pick up benefits on or after the First Date to Use of her cycle; in this case, on or after May 6th. If she were to pick them up on or after May 6th, the system cannot issue late benefits to baby and when syncing the cycle will start her cycle on 5/6 so that it can provide the July food package.
- 5/6-6/5 (May)
- 6/6-7/5 (June)
- 7/6-8/5 (July) - Baby receives July benefits
May 2015 HuBERT Hints #2</p>
Reminder! Food Packages for Women Breastfeeding Multiple Infants Alternate Quantities Each Month
Women who are breastfeeding more than one infant, and receive food package 7+, have .5 quantities in their food package:
Since the system cannot issue half quantities, it alternates a smaller and larger quantity each month in order to provide the full quantity of the food package over the participant’s entire certification period.
You can see how the foods will be distributed by clicking the Show Details button. This opens the Food Item Distribution window, which indicates how the food item will be distributed starting with the first month of the participant’s current certification period.
March 2015 HuBERT Hints #1
Correctly Completing the Date Breastfeeding Began and Ended Fields
The Date Breastfeeding Began and Date Breastfeeding Ended fields in the Health Information screen are both used for breastfeeding duration calculations in reports. It is very important that accurate information is recorded in these fields.
For most infants, the date that breastfeeding was first started is their date of birth. We have been seeing a few records in which the participant’s certification date has been entered into the Date Breastfeeding Began field instead of their birth date.
May 2014 HuBERT Hints #1
Certification History Tab Displays Date WIC Category Changed from Breastfeeding to Non-Breastfeeding as Cert End Date
For Breastfeeding women who are less than 6 months postpartum and whose WIC Category is changed to Non-Breastfeeding, the Certification History tab will display the date the pseudo-cert was created, or the date the WIC Category was changed, as the cert end date of the Breastfeeding certification record.
For example, a breastfeeding woman's initial certification period is displayed in the Certification History tab as 3/13/13 - 2/28/14:
If her Category is changed from Breastfeeding to Non-Breastfeeding on 6/5/13 the system indicates her new Cert End Date based on her infant's date of birth, which in this instance is 8/31/13:
When we re-open the Certification History tab, it now displays the start and end date of the breastfeeding portion of her most recent certification and will display 6/5/13 as the end date:
However, in the Risk Factors tab, both the breastfeeding portion of her certification from 3/15/13 - 6/5/13 and her non-breastfeeding portion from 6/5/13 - 8/31/13 display.
From the 2.18.06 Release Document
Nutrition Assessment Questions for Breastfeeding Women
To ensure the appropriate questions display when the Nutrition Assessment screen is opened, the Health Information should be completed first. The questions that display when you open the Nutrition Assessment screen are based on the participant's WIC category and breastfeeding amount. If the Breastfeeding Amount is not selected before opening the screen, the system does not know which questions are appropriate to display causing it to display all of the breastfeeding questions.
April 2013 HuBERT Hints #1
How to Delete Incorrect Links between Mom and Infant Records
Description: If a link is incorrectly created between a woman and infant's records, it must be deleted in both of their Health Information screens; it is not enough to delete the link in just one of the records.
What You Should Do: Deleting an incorrect link between a woman's record and an infant's record is a two-step process.
- Click the Edit button
- Remove the check mark from the Infant on WIC check box
- Click OK on the Edit Infant Information screen
- Click the Delete button on the Infants Born from This Pregnancy window
- Save the change to the Health Information screen
December 2012 HuBERT Hints #2
Cannot Change BF Participants to NBF if Pseudo-Cert Already Created for Date
Description: If any changes are made to a woman's folder that result in the system creating a pseudo-cert, you are unable to change the participant's WIC Category from Breastfeeding to Non-Breastfeeding.
Explanation: Pseudo-certs are auto-created by the system whenever it performs an assessment of the current risk factors and either assigns or removes a risk factor based on assessable criteria. This can occur when a Participant Folder is first opened (ex: Household Smoking has changed) or when information is entered (ex: hemoglobin value is entered). A pseudo-cert is also created when a participant's WIC Category is changed (ex: infant to child automatically changed during End-of-Day or by user when woman changes from Breastfeeding to Non-Breastfeeding).
However, the system can only create one pseudo-cert per date. If a pseudo-cert is created due to a risk factor change, you will be unable to change a woman's WIC category.
What You Should Do: If a woman is no longer breastfeeding and her infant is less than 6 months old, you should change her WIC Category in the Demographics tab immediately, before any other changes are made to the folder.
In instances when the pseudo-cert is auto-created before you have a chance to do this (such as a change in Household Smoking), you will be unable to change the WIC Category and will receive the following message when trying to change the WIC Category:
If this occurs, you can either wait until the next day to change the WIC Category or call the Help Desk for assistance.
August 2011 HuBERT Hints #4
Still Need to Complete Infants Born from This Pregnancy Screen if Participant Miscarries
Description: The Health Information screen, including the Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy screen, must be completed if a participant miscarries and she is certified as postpartum.
Explanation: The function of the Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy screen is two-fold. It collects information about the pregnancy for which the woman is being certified as postpartum and it allows you to link records.
What You Should Do: When completing the Health Information screen, the Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy screen should be opened and Stillborn, Miscarriage, or Abortion selected from the Infant Status at Birth field if you are certifying a postpartum woman who has miscarried. When this is selected, ALL other fields are disabled in that screen.
August 2011 HuBERT Hints #2
Tips and Guidance about Linking Mom and Baby
Description: You should always link mom's record to her infant's record when they are both on WIC in the same household.
Explanation: Linking records is essential to ensure that Risk Factors are assigned correctly and the correct default food packages are suggested.
- What You Should Do: The following are a couple of tips for creating links between mom and baby's records.
- Baby does not have to be certified to link but must be prescreened (have a WIC ID in the database)
- Links should be created in mom's Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy screen in order to create a two-way link immediately. Otherwise, if a link is initially created in baby's record, a link will also have to be created in mom's record.
August 2011 HuBERT Hints #1
How does HuBERT count some-breastfeeding women?
Some-breastfeeding women who are more than 6 months postpartum are automatically counted by HuBERT during the End-of-Month process. There is no correlation between these participants being counted and the letter that automatically prints for them when benefits are issued to their linked infants.
July 2011 HuBERT Hints #3