Kentucky WIC & WIC Farmers Market Program
Rights and Responsibilities

Need help? If you have difficulty understanding or reading English or have a disability, free language assistance or other aids and services are available upon request.

My Rights:
WIC Foods: If I/my child qualify for WIC, I’ll get an eWIC Card to buy healthy foods at the grocery store. The healthy WIC Foods will help me/my child eat healthy, but will not provide all the foods that I/my child needs each month. I will be provided information on my WIC food package and where to shop.

Nutrition Education & Breastfeeding Support: I will get information about nutrition topics that interest me. WIC will help and support me with breastfeeding.

Health Care Information and Referrals: WIC will share information about immunizations, finding a doctor, and other services I might need or be interested in.

Common Courtesy: WIC and store staff will treat me fairly and equally, with courtesy and respect, in return I will treat WIC Program and store staff with courtesy. If I have concerns with my WIC shopping experience, I will contact my WIC office or the State WIC Vendor Management office at 1-877-597-0367

WIC Transfer Information: I can transfer to another WIC office in out of Kentucky. I can ask WIC staff to give me transfer information to provide to my new WIC office. (Verification of Certification also called a VOC).

Fair Treatment/Right to File a Complaint: Standards for eligibility and participation in the WIC Program are the same for everyone regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. I have the right to file a complaint if I feel I have been treated unfairly by WIC staff or store staff.

Fair Hearing: I can ask for a Fair Hearing if I disagree with a decision about my WIC eligibility. The Fair Hearings Procedures are posted in my WIC office.

Free Communication Assistance: I understand that if I have difficulty understanding or reading English or have a disability; free language assistance or other aids and services are available upon request.

Privacy: My information is private. I understand that my child’s WIC data may be shared with other Kentucky Department of Public Health programs, such as immunizations. If I am investigated for WIC Program abuse, my information may be shared.

Proxy: I understand that I may appoint proxies to act on my behalf for WIC services. All proxies must abide by these Rights and Responsibilities.

My Responsibilities:
Provide Correct Information:

• By signing the CH-5 Registration, Authorizations, Certifications and Consent form, I am certifying that the information I provide for my WIC eligibility determination is correct, to the best of my knowledge. This includes identity, pregnancy status, address, household size, household income and eligibility for Medicaid, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families).
• I will inform WIC Staff if my household income, address or phone number changes.

WIC Program Participation:

• If I do not participate (pick up/keep my appointment or request) my/my child’s food benefits for two months in a row, I/my child will be removed from the WIC Program. I may contact my WIC office to request to be reinstated if I have eligibility left in my certification period or to be recertified.
• If I receive my/my child’s food benefits late, I may not be receive all the food benefits for that month, the food benefits may be reduced based on the number of days remaining in my/my child’s benefit cycle. eWIC Card:
• It is my responsibility to keep my eWIC card secure and my PIN confidential. . (Only share your card or PIN with people you have identified as a proxy)
• If my eWIC card is lost, stolen or damaged, I must call the WIC office for assistance.

WIC Abuse:

• If I misrepresent, conceal, or withhold facts in order to get WIC, I may be asked to repay the value of the food received and be removed from the WIC Program.
• Disruptive behavior, threatening to abuse, or physically abusing any staff and vendor or farmer’s market personnel is a violation of WIC Program regulations and may result in disqualification from the program.
• I understand that the following violations may result in disqualification from the program and repayment of food benefits issued to me and subject me to civil or criminal
  prosecution under state and federal law:
  • Exchanging supplemental foods for cash, credit, or non-WIC food items
  • Purchasing non-WIC foods or unauthorized food items;
  • Purchasing supplemental food items in excess of what was issued to me; and
  • Selling or offering to sell my WIC foods or WIC benefits, or WIC issued breast pump, either verbally, in print, or online or allowing someone else to do so.
  • Participating in more than one WIC Program and/or Commodities Special Food Program (CSFP) at the same
    time.
• If I give someone my eWIC card and PIN and they misuse my food benefits, the foods will not be replaced.

The Kentucky WIC Program is an equal opportunity Provider. Please see below for information on filing a civil rights complaint.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including
gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American
Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s
TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-
17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The
letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged
discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature
and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
1. mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
2. fax:
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
3. email:
[email protected]

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Kentucky WIC Program Rights and Responsibilities Rev.10/22