USDA WIC Telehealth Innovations Project | USDA FY19 WIC TIP

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FY19 WIC TIP

The USDA WIC Telehealth Innovations Project is a federal funding opportunity from the Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, focused on expanding and testing telehealth approaches within the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). WIC serves low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children up to age five who are at nutritional risk, and it operates nationwide across all 50 states and several U.S. territories, along with numerous Indian Tribal Organizations. The goal of this initiative is to strengthen WIC service delivery by using telehealth tools to supplement what happens in the clinic, especially for nutrition education and breastfeeding promotion and support, while also helping reduce access barriers that often affect rural communities and other underserved groups.

Funding is structured as one cooperative agreement awarded to a single public or private academic research institution for the period FY 2019 through FY 2024. The total anticipated funding is up to $8.5 million. A key feature of the project is that most of the money, specifically $5 million, is intended to be redistributed as sub-grants to WIC State Agencies through a competitive process. These sub-grants are meant to support real-world implementation of telehealth innovations that add to, rather than replace, in-clinic WIC nutrition education and breastfeeding support services.

The institution receiving the cooperative agreement is responsible for running the sub-grant competition, selecting the WIC State Agency sub-grantees, and then designing and carrying out evaluations of each telehealth innovation project that is funded. In practice, that means the grantee functions as both a grantmaker and an evaluation hub: it must establish the application and review process for sub-awards, provide oversight as projects launch and operate, and produce formal evaluation outputs. Deliverables include reports and publications that share what worked, what did not, and what approaches appear most effective in improving access and supporting participants.

The opportunity is rooted in statutory authorities that allow USDA to fund research and demonstration projects that advance USDA food and nutrition assistance programs. The announcement cites Section 17(g)(5) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, and it also points to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (Public Law 116-6), which specifically set aside $5 million for telehealth competitive grants aimed at supplementing WIC nutrition education and breastfeeding support and reducing barriers to WIC services. Telehealth is understood using the HRSA definition, meaning the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support health care and health-related education and administration. Examples of relevant technologies include video conferencing, internet-based communication, store-and-forward methods, streaming media, and wireless communications.

Administratively, this was a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism, with an expected single award. Eligible applicants were limited to institutions of higher education, both public/state-controlled and private. The funding opportunity was posted May 30, 2019, with a closing date of July 29, 2019, and an award ceiling of $8,500,000.

• The Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service in the food and nutrition sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "USDA WIC Telehealth Innovations Project" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.528.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 30, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 29, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $8,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA FY19 WIC TIP

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