Title
CONSIDERATION OF AWARD IN THE AMOUNT OF $50,936 FROM THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (KDHE) TO PROVIDE A BREASTFEEDING PEER COUNSELING PROGRAM WITHIN THE SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM OF WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN (WIC) IN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
Presented by: Roderick Harris, Children and Family Health Division Director, Sedgwick County Health Department.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Accept the award; establish budget authority as provided in the financial considerations section of this request, and authorize the Chair to sign the grant application.
Body
Grant Renewal: Yes
Never Applied: No
Applied; not awarded: No
Grant Summary and Timeline: In June 2010, the Sedgwick County WIC program received funding from the State WIC agency to begin a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program (BFPC). This renewable grant supports three part-time peer counselor positions in Sedgwick County WIC. The combination of the mother-to-mother support, along with other breastfeeding support activities, has positively influenced the number of women choosing to breastfeed their babies. National WIC and the State (Kansas) WIC have long-range visions of establishing peer counseling as a core service in all WIC agencies.
The Sedgwick County WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselors services include:
- Education and exploring infant feeding plans with the pregnant women enrolled in the WIC program.
- Teaching a free monthly breastfeeding class - which is open to the public for women wanting more information of breastfeeding.
- Assisting WIC clients, who have recently given birth, with simple breastfeeding issues that arise after discharge from the medical centers, and referring women back to their physician for more complex issues.
Financial Considerations:
Grant period starts: October 1, 2011
Grant period ends: September 30, 2012
Source of funding
Grant: $ 50,936.00
Required Match: $ 0.00
Required Cash Match: $0.00
Required In-Kind Match: $0.00
Other funding:$0.00
TOTAL SOURCES: $50,936.00
Uses of funding
Operational costs: $ 50,936.00
Personnel: $ 44,554.00
Contractual services: $ 3,468.00
Operational supplies: $ 0.00
Equipment:$ 0.00
Indirect administrative costs:$ 2,914.00
Capital projects cost:$ 0.00
TOTAL USES $ 50,936.00
Source of matching funds: N/A
Source of other funding: N/A
Budget Authority Adjustment: Yes, for $50,936.00 in Fund Center 38105-274. For FFY 2012, State WIC program has provided funding to Sedgwick County WIC in the amount of $50,936, an increase of $564.00 or 1.1%, from the previous federal fiscal year.
Personnel considerations: None.
Analysis:
Studies have shown that breastfed babies are healthier. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be fed only breast milk for the first 6 months of life, but only 13% of American infants meet this standard.
One study found that for every 1,000 babies not breastfed, there were 2,033 extra physician visits, 212 extra hospitalization days, and 609 extra prescriptions. These services were provided to address three illnesses alone - ear, respiratory, and gastrointestinal infections (Ball, T & Wright, A. 1999).
Healthy People 2020 objectives for breastfeeding include: 1) 82% of new moms state that they ever breast-fed, 2) 61% were breastfeeding for 6 months, and 3) 34% were breastfeeding at 1 year.
The peer counselor program has contributed to increasing the breastfeeding rates among moms enrolled in the Sedgwick County WIC program. The August 2011, breastfeeding data indicates:
- 70.4% of women are initiating breastfeeding (up 5.6% from last year)
- at 6 months, 26.5% remain breastfeeding (up 4.7% from last year)
- the rate of infants that are breastfed for more than 7 months is 13.1% (up 1.5% from last year)
Expected measurable outcomes:
1) In FFY 2012, WIC breastfeeding initiation will increase from 70.4% to 75%.
2) Increase the number of Sedgwick County WIC participants who breastfeed for at least a six months duration, from 26.5% to 30%.
Alternatives:
Do not accept the funding to provide breastfeeding peer counseling to clients in the Sedgwick County WIC program.
Policy considerations:
Legal considerations:The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC Program) is authorized under Section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended. Legal authority under Federal Statute may be found at 42 U.S.C. 1786 and as regulated pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations, Sec. 246 (7 C.F.R. 246) and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Public Law 111-296, 7 U.S.C. 1746. See also, C.F.D.A. 10.557 for regulatory requirements. Approval is by simple majority vote.