The Professional Opportunities for Paraprofessional Staff in WIC project, or WIC POPS, is a 5-year cooperative agreement with USDA that is part of a larger initiative to modernize the WIC workforce.

Paraprofessionals play an important role in WIC's ability to effectively deliver evidence-based nutrition guidance into actionable and locally- relevant practices. However, staffing models and training for paraprofessionals vary greatly across the nation. This project will engage with WIC staff to conduct a national formative assessment of current staffing models, identify strengths and areas of improvement for each model, use this information to co-create a paraprofessional training program, pilot the program in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and make recommendations for scalability.

Goals

1. Co-create a feasible and appealing WIC training and career pathway that supports the advancement and retention of paraprofessional staff.

2. Build WIC workforce capacity by developing and evaluating training and resources that translate evidence-based nutrition guidance into practical, community-centered approaches.

Objectives

• Identify existing WIC paraprofessional staffing models and associated training practices across WIC and examine strengths and areas for improvement of current models

• Co-develop training materials and supportive resources tailored to the needs of paraprofessionals, supervisors, and other WIC staff

• Assess the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the co-created training pathway within the WIC setting

• Plan for nation-wide scalability of the developed training program

The Advisory Board

In line with the use of human-centered design approaches at the core of WIC POPS, we are recruiting WIC staff at all levels to be involved throughout all phases of the project. The WIC POPS Advisory Board will consist of WIC staff and experts in workforce development who will provide advice and counsel throughout the project. The Working Group, a dynamic subset of the Advisory Board, will directly assist with project activities.

Advisory Board Members

Advisory Board members will meet ~quarterly via Zoom and will be asked to provide feedback on project protocols and developed materials (e.g., focus group guides, training curricula). The anticipated time commitment is ~8-12 hours/year.

Working Group Members

As a subset of the Advisory Board, working group members will directly assist with project activities and provide feedback on project protocols and developed materials at advisory board meetings. The working group consists of WIC staff and community health workers. In the first phase of the project, working group members will help lead focus groups about current training and staffing models in WIC agencies. 

Email WICPOPS@umn.edu for more information.