(a) Selection of a local agency to provide WIC Program services will be based on the local agency priority system as follows:
  (1) A public or private nonprofit health agency which can provide ongoing routine pediatric and obstetric care or administrative services shall receive first priority consideration.
  (2) A public or private nonprofit health or human service agency which will enter into a written agreement with another agency for either ongoing pediatric and obstetric care or administrative services shall receive second priority consideration.
  (3) A public or private nonprofit health agency which will enter into a written agreement with private physicians licensed by the state to provide ongoing pediatric and obstetric care to a specific category of participants (women, infants, or children) shall receive third priority consideration.
  (4) A public or private nonprofit human service agency which will enter into a written agreement with private physicians licensed by the state to provide ongoing routine pediatric and obstetric care shall receive fourth priority consideration.
  (5) A public or private nonprofit human service agency which will provide ongoing routine pediatric and obstetric care through referral to a health provider shall receive fifth priority consideration.
  (6) No WIC Program funds shall be expended to reimburse private physicians for the health services performed.
(b) The state agency shall establish an affirmative action plan each year to rank order each county's relative need for WIC Program services based on the total number of potentially eligible persons in each county.
(c) All WIC Program initiation and expansion shall be executed utilizing a request for proposal (RFP) in accordance with state agency policy, state law, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Instruction 802-1, and the state agency's approved affirmative action plan under one of the following conditions:
  (1) the state agency determines it is in the best interests of the state to initiate an open competitive statewide RFP;
  (2) an existing WIC Program local agency is either disqualified as a provider of WIC Program services or does not wish to continue as a local agency;
  (3) a state agency health services region wishes to transfer direct WIC Program services to a local agency; or
  (4) a prospective agency satisfactorily documents to the state agency that a specific geographical area is underserved and the current WIC local agency providing services in that area is unable to provide services to that geographical area and declines to develop a collaborative effort to deliver services to meet the documented unmet need.
(d) The state agency shall evaluate proposals to serve as a WIC Program local agency submitted in response to an RFP.
(e) The state agency shall advise respondent agencies of the status of their applications to provide WIC Program services in accordance with the schedule of events in the public notice and the RFP.
(f) In the event of an emergency or unexpected interruption of WIC Program services, the state agency WIC Director may waive any or all parts of the application process if necessary to ensure uninterrupted delivery of WIC services in a geographic area or areas.

Source Note: The provisions of this §31.31 adopted to be effective August 5, 2001, 26 TexReg 5642; amended to be effective June 4, 2006, 31 TexReg 4428