Sec. 10.54.01.13. Certification Periods

A. A local agency shall certify an applicant for Program benefits for the following time periods:

(1) A pregnant woman for the duration of her pregnancy and up to the last day of the month in which the infant turns 6 weeks old or the pregnancy ends;

(2) A postpartum woman up to the last day of the 6th month after the infant is born or the pregnancy ends;

(3) A breastfeeding woman up to the last day of the month of the breastfed infant’s first birthday as long as the woman is breastfeeding;

(4) An infant younger than 6 months old up to the last day of the month of the infant’s first birthday;

(5) An infant from 6 months old to 1 year old up to the last day of the 6th month from the date of certification; and

(6) A child 1 year old or older up to the last day of the month 1 year from the date of the certification or the month in which the child turns 5 years old.

B. When there is difficulty in appointment scheduling for participants referred to in §A(4)-(6) of this regulation, a local agency may shorten or extend the certification period by not more than 30 days on a case-by-case basis.

C. A local agency may use anthropometric data for a nutrition risk determination that precedes the date of certification by up to 60 days and bloodwork data following U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations with no reduction in the length of certification.

D. Anthropometric data for an individual certified as a pregnant woman shall be collected during the pregnancy, and data for an individual certified as a postpartum or a breastfeeding woman shall be collected after the termination of the pregnancy.

E. Not less than 15 days before the expiration of a certification period, the Program shall notify a participant, or a child or infant participant's parent, guardian, or caretaker that the participant's certification period for the Program is about to expire.

F. A participant, or a child or infant participant's parent, guardian, or caretaker shall apply in person for benefits for the next certification period.