Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for WIC

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has announced a competitive funding opportunity through a cooperative agreement. The goal is to enhance breastfeeding education among WIC staff nationwide through a train-the-trainer program. The awarded applicant will be responsible for developing a training guide and associated materials based on FNS’s competency-based breastfeeding curriculum titled “Loving Support: Building Breastfeeding Competencies Curriculum for Local WIC Staff.” The initiative is backed by Public Law 110-161, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, which authorizes funds under section 17(h)(10)(B) of the Child Nutrition Act. The awarded organization will receive $250,000 in fiscal year 2008 to execute the project, which includes not only developing the guide but also training key staff across each of the seven FNS geographical regions. This effort aims to increase local WIC agency staff’s proficiency in breastfeeding promotion and support. Only one award will be made under this opportunity, which is limited to non-profit organizations currently engaged in breastfeeding education, training, or curriculum development. Applications from organizations outside of this scope will not be considered. The cooperative agreement model indicates that FNS will be actively involved in project oversight and collaboration with the recipient throughout the duration of the project. The funding opportunity, designated as USDA-FNS-SSNPWIC-08, was officially posted on June 6, 2008, and applications were due by July 16, 2008. The archive date for this announcement is August 15, 2008, which further confirms that this grant opportunity is no longer open for application. There are no matching fund requirements, and this is not a recurring or rolling grant. Applications were to be evaluated objectively based on specific technical criteria outlined in the request for applications (RFA), although those detailed criteria were not included in the synopsis. Interested applicants could reach out to the grant officer, Charles Okal, via phone at 703-305-2854 for further information or assistance.