R406-100-4. Requirements

(1) To be eligible to participate in the program and receive supplemental food, each applicant must meet criteria regarding: (a) category and age, including being: (i) a pregnant woman or a woman up to six weeks postpartum; (ii) a breastfeeding woman up to 12 months post-delivery; (iii) a postpartum woman up to six months post-delivery; or (iv) an infant or child up to five years of age; (b) residence, including that an applicant must be a resident of an area or member of a population served by the local agency and within the jurisdiction of the state; (c) income, including that an applicant must be a member of a family or household which: (i) has a gross income at or below 185% of the federal poverty guideline; or (ii) is determined to be adjunctively eligible through participation in the Medicaid Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; and (d) nutritional risk, including that an applicant must be certified to have a nutritional need through a medical or nutritional assessment by a competent professional authority on staff at a WIC clinic. (2) Each participant shall be certified annually to determine eligibility for the program. (a) A pregnant woman shall be certified for the length of the woman's pregnancy. (b) The length of each certification period for a participant is listed in 7 CFR 246.7(g). (3) The Utah WIC Program shall issue an electronic benefit card to each participant family upon acceptance into the program to obtain prescribed supplemental foods at an authorized grocery retailer. (4)(a) The department may only authorize a local public health department within the state as a WIC local agency. (b) If a local health department is no longer able, willing, or authorized by the department to operate WIC within that local health department's jurisdiction, the department shall give any bordering local health department first priority to serve WIC participants in that area. (c) If any area within the state is not served by a department-authorized local health department, the Utah WIC Program, in collaboration with the department's executive director, shall consider another public or private health agency for authorization as a WIC local agency. (5)(a) To become an authorized WIC vendor, a grocery retailer must apply by completing a vendor application and submitting required documentation to the department. (b) Utah WIC Program staff shall review each application and consider the limiting and selection criteria, as described in the FY 2026 Utah WIC State Plan, to determine if the grocery retailer applicant is needed and qualified to become an authorized vendor. (c) Upon approval of the application and successful completion of a site visit and initial authorization training by Utah WIC Program staff, the grocery retailer applicant may enter into an agreement with the department's Utah WIC Program to be an authorized vendor and accept WIC transactions. (d) An authorized vendor shall accept and consistently adhere to the WIC vendor agreement described in Subsection (5)(c). (e) Any WIC purchase and subsequent payment to the authorized vendor shall be processed using electronic benefits transfer (EBT). (i) The authorized vendor shall submit any claim for payment daily to the Utah WIC Program's EBT host processor through the vendor's WIC-certified third-party processor. (ii) Any claim file not submitted within 60 days of the purchase date is ineligible to receive payment.