The ASPHN Board of Directors met on December 10, 2021. There was no November board meeting.
- Five General membership applications were approved in November and eleven in December: Ashton Cooper (NC); Sherry Ebner (NC); Kagan Griffin (NV); Amber Hise (NV); Melissa Mirota (AR); Divyani Pendleton (CO); Nikki Sezer (SC); Alexandra Stolworthy (AZ); Nathan Sudduth (NC); Elizabeth Weeks (NC); Mei Yeh (MN); Genine Hodges (SC); Wamaitha Mirie (NJ); Erin Olson (IA); Gina Trombly (MI); Barbara Zimmerman (SC).
- Five Associate membership applications were approved including three student applications in November and eleven Associate membership applications approved including two student applications in December: Rachel Feinberg (MN); Amelia Gelnett (TN); Madelyn Howe (TN); Rachel Kimmel (CA); Gbadebo Odularu (VA); Hannah Bonar (VT); Anne Hutchinson (VT); Violeta Jimenez (CA); Taylor Murray (VT); Sara Myers (VT); Emily Ordonez (CA); Steven Ortiz (AZ); Danielle Pothier (VT); Holly Riccitelli (VT); Victoria Rodenburg (VT); Samantha Shanks (VT);
- The motion to approve use of the ASPHN logo on a product that is dedicated to identifying federal funding sources for Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) projects/programs that will be released in early 2022 passed unanimously.
- The motion to authorize the 2022 ASPHN Annual Meeting Planning Committee to decide whether the June 2022 Annual Meeting should be held in-person or virtually with guidance from Jamie Stang, Cyndi Atterbury, Mary Ann Ellsworth, and Pat Simmons passed unanimously.
- Policy Committee actions on behalf of ASPHN since last board report:
- Extended sign-on approval on behalf of ASPHN by not opting out of the NWA WIC’s list of organizations in support of their letter urging Congress that the FY22 appropriations bill be passed with adequate funding to extend the WIC benefit bump through September 2022.
- Signed-on in support of the Protecting the Health of America’s Older Adults Act, set to be introduced later this fall by Representative Lois Frankel (FL-21) which would create a healthy aging program at CDC, including grants to states for public health approaches to healthy aging.
- Signed-on in support of Rep. Kathy Manning and Rep. David Trone (D-MD) reintroducing the Supporting Healthy Mothers and Infants Act (H.R. 5249, 116th) again this Congress. The legislation supports the development and increased availability of evidence-based nutrition education materials to address the needs of infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. The Supporting Healthy Mothers and Infants Act would also amend the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) section of the Child Nutrition act to:
- Remove stigmatizing language in the Child Nutrition Act related to substance abuse disorder,
- Ensure the WIC program develops materials and conducts outreach for eligible individuals impacted by substance abuse disorders who are not currently in the program.
4. Signed-on in support of the MODERN WIC Act to be introduced by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Roger Marshall (R-KS). This bill will strike the balance to unlock remote services beyond the pandemic and will be one of the most critical marker bills in the WIC space as we approach a Child Nutrition Reauthorization process in early 2022. The MODERN WIC Act will:
- Relax physical presence requirements to permit video and/or phone certification appointments. Within 90 days, participants must submit health assessment data by either visiting a WIC clinic or providing information from a physician visit;
- Clarifying that State agencies may remotely issue benefits on an EBT card or other technology, without requiring an in-person pickup;
- Increasing the annual set-aside funding for management information systems and other technologies from $35m to $50m;
- Requiring USDA to review and report on the use and impact of remote technologies on WIC services.
final October 2021 board meeting minutes