Sec. 10.54.01.04. Definitions

A. In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated.

B. Terms Defined.

(1) “Applicant” means an individual who has requested or on whose behalf another person has requested WIC benefits in person, either orally or in writing, under the provisions of this chapter.

(2) “Benefits” means the foods prescribed and services provided to a participant by the Program.

(3) “Breastfeeding woman” means a woman up to 1 year postpartum who is breastfeeding her infant.

(4) “Caretaker” means an individual who is responsible for the care and welfare of a participant.

(5) “Caseload” means the participation level that is assigned to a local agency by the State agency.

(6) “Certification” means the implementation of criteria and procedures to assess and document an applicant's eligibility for the Program.

(7) “Certification period” means the time period for which a participant has been authorized by a local agency as eligible for Program benefits.

(8) “Child” means an individual who is 1 year old or older but is younger than 5 years old.

(9) “Clinic” means a local agency facility where an applicant is certified.

(10) “Competent paraprofessional authority” means an individual who:

(a) Does not meet the definition of a competent professional authority;

(b) Successfully completes a WIC training program approved by the State agency; and

(c) Performs certifications under the supervision of a competent professional authority.

(11) Competent Professional Authority.

(a) "Competent professional authority" means an individual who is a:

(i) Physician;

(ii) Nutritionist;

(iii) Dietitian;

(iv) Registered nurse;

(v) Physician's assistant certified by the National Committee on Certification of Physician's Assistants or certified by the State Board of Physician Quality Assurance; or

(vi) State or local medically trained health official.

(b) "Competent professional authority" includes an individual who is:

(i) On the staff of the local agency and authorized by the State agency to serve as a competent professional authority; or

(ii) Not on the staff of the local agency, but who is qualified to provide data upon which a nutritional risk determination is made by a competent professional authority on the staff of the local agency.

(12) “Complementary feeding process” means a nutrition risk that applies to an infant or a child from 4 through 23 months old who has begun to or is expected to begin to:

(a) Consume foods or beverages complementary to breast feeding;

(b) Eat independently;

(c) Be weaned from breast milk or infant formula; or

(d) Transition from a diet specifically intended for infants or toddlers to one based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as updated every 5 years by the United States Department of Agriculture with the United States Department of Health and Human Services under Title III of Public Law 101-445 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990.

(13) “Day” means a calendar day.

(14) “Disqualification” means the act of ending the Program participation of a participant, whether as a punitive sanction or for administrative reasons.

(15) “Dual participation” means an individual's simultaneous participation in the WIC Program in more than one state, local agency, or clinic, or participation in the WIC Program and in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program funded by the USDA during the same period of time.

(16) “Family” means a group of related or nonrelated individuals who are not residents of an institution but who are living together as one economic unit, except that residents of a homeless facility or an institution may not all be considered as members of a single family.

(17) “Food delivery system” means the method used by a local agency to provide supplemental foods to a participant.

(18) “Food instrument” means an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card or other document that is used by a participant to obtain supplemental foods.

(19) “Health services” means ongoing, routine, pediatric, and obstetric care or referral for treatment.

(20) “HHS” means the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

(21) Income.

(a) "Income" means gross cash income before deductions for:

(i) Income taxes;

(ii) An employee's Social Security taxes;

(iii) Insurance premiums;

(iv) Bonds;

(v) Housing subsidy in the form of cash or stipend; or

(vi) Cash food subsidy.

(b) "Income" includes:

(i) Monetary compensation for services, including wages, salary, commissions, or fees;

(ii) Net income from farm and nonfarm self-employment;

(iii) Social Security benefits;

(iv) Dividends or interest on savings or bonds, income from estates or trusts, or net rental income;

(v) Public assistance or welfare payments;

(vi) Unemployment compensation;

(vii) Government civilian employee or military retirement pensions, or veterans' payments;

(viii) Private pensions or annuities;

(ix) Alimony or child support payments;

(x) Regular contributions from individuals not living in the household;

(xi) Net royalties;

(xii) Other cash income, which includes, but is not limited to, cash amounts received or withdrawn from any source including savings, investments, trust accounts, and other resources that are readily available to the applicant or the applicant's family; or

(xiii) Cash contributions from others residing in the same living quarters as the applicant.

(c) "Income" does not include payments or benefits excluded under 7 CFR §246.7(d)(2)(iv).

(22) "Infant" means an individual younger than 1 year old.

(23) "Instream migrant" means a migrant farm worker or an individual accompanying a migrant farm worker who is traveling and currently employed or seeking employment in seasonal agricultural work that causes the migrant to move from the migrant's home.

(24) "Local agency" means a public or private, nonprofit health or human service agency that provides health services, either directly or through contract.

(25) "Migrant farm worker" means an individual:

(a) Whose principal employment is in agriculture on a seasonal basis;

(b) Who has been employed in agriculture on a seasonal basis within the last 24 months; and

(c) Who establishes, for the purpose of employment in agriculture on a seasonal basis, a temporary home.

(26) "Nutritional risk" means:

(a) Detrimental or 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 an individual, including alcoholism or drug abuse; or

(e) Conditions that predispose individuals to inadequate nutritional patterns or nutritionally related medical conditions, including but not limited to homelessness and migrancy.

(27) "Nutrition education" means individual or group education sessions and the provision of information and educational materials designed to improve health status, achieve positive change in dietary and physical activity habits, and emphasize relationships between nutrition, physical activity, and health, all in keeping with the individual's personal and cultural preferences.

(28) "Nutritionist" means an individual licensed in Maryland who has a bachelor's or master's degree in nutritional sciences, community nutrition, clinical nutrition, dietetics, public health nutrition, or home economics with an emphasis in nutrition.

(29) “Participant” means a pregnant woman, breastfeeding woman, postpartum woman, infant, or child who is receiving benefits under the Program, and the breastfed infant of a breastfeeding woman participant.

(30) “Participation” means receiving benefits under the Program.

(31) “Participation data” means information concerning the number of:

(a) Individuals who received benefits during a reporting period;

(b) Infants who received no benefits during a reporting period, but who were breastfed by participant breastfeeding women; and

(c) Breastfeeding women who did not receive benefits but whose infant received benefits during the reporting period.

(32) “Postpartum woman” means a woman up to 6 months after the termination of her pregnancy.

(33) “Poverty income guidelines” means the poverty income guidelines prescribed and adjusted annually by HHS.

(34) “Pregnant woman” means a woman who is determined to have one or more embryos or fetuses in utero.

(35) “Program” means the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) authorized by 42 U.S.C. §1786, the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended.

(36) “Proxy” means an individual who is designated by a participant or a child or infant participant’s parent, guardian, or caretaker to receive food instruments and to redeem food benefits for the participant and whose name is on file at the local agency.

(37) “Special nutritional risk applicant” means a migrant farmworker or a migrant farmworker's family, a pregnant woman, or an infant.

(38) “State agency” means the Maryland Department of Health's WIC Program.

(39) “Supplemental foods" means those foods containing nutrients determined to be beneficial for a pregnant woman, breastfeeding woman, postpartum woman, infant, or child, as prescribed by the Secretary of the USDA under 7 CFR §246.10, which is incorporated by reference in Regulation .03 of this chapter.

(40) “USDA” means the United States Department of Agriculture.

(41) “Verification of certification” means a document that provides proof of Program eligibility for the participant who is transferring from one WIC agency to another.