January Local Agency Call Minutes
Review the WIC Local Agency Conference Call - Jan. 17, 2024, minutes.
Quarterly Medical Assistance texting - reminder
Minnesota WIC sends quarterly text messages promoting the program to Medical Assistance (MA) recipients, who qualify for WIC.
In 2024, texts will go out the first Monday in February, May, August, and November.
- WIC uses lists of new MA recipients who are younger than five, are pregnant or are six months postpartum for the text outreach efforts. We carefully review the data to make sure outreach texts go to potential WIC participants, not current participants.
- The texts are sent to recipients over five weeks.
- The text is available in English, Spanish, and Somali.
Keep in mind Fall numbers were high because they made everyone reapply for MA post pandemic so more people showed up on our “new” list.
New MDH cannabis resources
Explore MDH’s new online resources about the health effects of cannabis. The cannabis and your health webpage provides information on reducing potential harms from cannabis use. Additionally, view the updated preventing unintentional poisonings from cannabis products webpage to learn more about safe storage and what to do when someone consumes too much THC or reacts badly to a cannabis product.
MDH efforts will focus on cannabis use prevention, substance use treatment, and recovery. Funding will also support education and awareness around adverse health effects of cannabis use, with a focus on youth and people who are pregnant, may become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. MDH will also support training for the Family Home Visiting program and provide grants to local and tribal public health for educational materials, prevention efforts, harm reduction, and community engagement.
“Prerecorded The Valuable Role WIC Staff Play in Preventing and Addressing Iron Deficiency Anemia”
Description: One of the cornerstone aspects of the WIC program is the prevention of iron deficiency anemia among participants. Join former WIC CPA, Melissa Nelson, as she explores the strategies, tools, and collaborations that WIC staff can apply to prevent and address this pressing public health issue.
Objectives:
- Describe the impact of iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy and early childhood.
- Explain the role WIC staff play in identifying iron deficiency anemia.
- Know when a hemoglobin level is considered high risk and when a referral to a health care provider is necessary.
- Identify food sources of iron, including sources in vegetarian/vegan diets.
Registration: Log into the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Learning Center and search for “Prerecorded The Valuable Role WIC Staff Play in Preventing and Addressing Iron Deficiency Anemia”.
Previous viewer comments:
- Loved how it was so specific to WIC and had such great examples from everything to PCS, to our ed cards, to our training materials.
- Practical ideas for assessing for low hemoglobin and for providing education.
- Based on the greatness of this training, of course I'd be willing to hear more on this, or other topics you'd want to share about.
Melissa will be back this year with a 2-part series on Nutrition Assessment!!
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We're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Since the opening of the first clinic in 1974, WIC has been committed to improving maternal and child outcomes.
January WIC 50th Anniversary Partner Toolkit and theme "the First Clinic."
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Local agency staff should talk to their supervisor for approval before registering for training.
Great Lakes breastfeeding webinars - on pause
In 2023, Great Lakes moved their webinars to a new platform called Thinkific to improve the learner’s experience. In doing so, they found that the approval for some forms of continuing education were insufficient and incorrect.
They have put their monthly webinars on hold while they are working to correct the errors. You may have received an email from Great Lakes about this. We will update you as more information becomes available. They have updated the information on Thinkific to accurately reflect approved credits for past webinars. To review existing webinars, log onto Great lakes Breastfeeding Webinars Products.
The Week Ahead
Check out upcoming trainings and meetings: Local Agency WIC Calendar
Find new job opportunities on the WIC Job Postings webpage.
Submit job postings using the WIC Job Postings survey.
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