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WINNIE PREP: CLEAN UP INCOMPLETE CERTS & MCAs IN HuBERT
Agencies can prepare for WINNIE by ensuring participants in HuBERT do not have incomplete certifications or Mid-certification Assessments (MCAs). Incomplete certifications cannot be completed in WINNIE if they were started in HuBERT. While MCAs started in HuBERT can be resolved in WINNIE, to ensure a smooth transition, we are encouraging all agencies to resolve both incomplete certs and MCAs in HuBERT.
Infoview Reports
There are two Infoview reports in the INFOVIEW TEMPLATES >> Agency Management >> Audits/Charts Review folder to assist with this task:
- INCOMPLETE CERTIFICATIONS
- INCOMPLETE MCAs
Agencies should run both these templates regularly now, and in the months prior to rollout, to ensure all incomplete certs and MCAs are resolved by the time your agency rolls out WINNIE.
Resolving Incomplete Certifications
Search for the participants that display in the report output and remove the incomplete cert by clicking on Certification >> Remove Incomplete Certification.
If the Remove Incomplete Certification option in the Certification menu is disabled, you can begin a new certification and stop the certification prior to entering any information. This will enable the Remove Incomplete Certification option and effectively remove the incomplete certification.
Once your agency transitions to WINNIE, any unresolved incomplete certifications will require assistance from the Help Desk and escalation to specific Help Desk staff since only a few are able to assist with removing certifications on the backend.
Resolving Incomplete MCAs
Search for the participants that display in the report output and remove the incomplete MCA by clicking on Certification >> Remove Mid-certification Assessment.
February 9, 2023, HuBERT Hints
Do Not Start Certifications Unless They Can Be Finished on the Same Date
While running some reports we noticed that there have been a greater number of incomplete certifications or unfinished certification attempts in HuBERT. These are certifications that have been started and are not completed on the same date. Though we recognize this can sometimes occur due to participant circumstances, it should not be a common practice to try to meet Separation of Duties requirements. This practice can greatly impact the accuracy of all Infoview reports providing information about certifications.
Explanation: When a Certification Guided Script is first opened, the date is stored in the Certstartdate field in the CERTCONTACT table. When it is completed, the date is again saved, but this time as the Certeffectivedate. When the certification is started and completed on the same date, the Certstartdate and Certeffectivedate match.
Every time a pseudo-cert is created, a new record is created whereby the Certeffectivedate is changed to reflect the date of the pseudo-cert. When this occurs, the certification record has a Certeffectivedate that is no longer equal to the Certstartdate. For reporting purposes, we identify a certification using the simple criterion that the Certstartdate is equal to the Certeffectivedate in order to exclude pseudo-certs. Therefore, when a cert is started on one date and completed on another, the certification is not included in any of the report outputs.
Therefore, we strongly encourage you to only start a certification if it can be completed on the same date.
November 2020 HuBERT Hints #1
Income Contact and the Certification History Tab
If multiple members of a household are certified on the same date, the staff person who entered the income is not recorded next to Income Contact in the Certification History tab for the members for whom HuBERT automatically copied the income. The Income Contact Staff ID is only recorded for the one member who had the income entered into their CGS.
For example, in the print screen below, a non-breastfeeding woman and her infant were both certified on 1/3/17. Only mom has a record next to Income Contact because the income record was entered into mom's CGS and the system auto-saved it for the infant.
March 2017 HuBERT Hints #1
Capturing Staff ID Correctly in HUBERT when Multiple Staff Performing Steps in CGS
In order to ensure HuBERT records the Staff ID when multiple staff perform different parts of the Certification Guided Script (CGS), only one person can be in a particular Participant Folder at a time.
For example, Staff #1 opens Teddy Bear's participant folder, starts the CGS, and completes Demographics (including the income). Staff #1 must then close out of the CGS and close out of Teddy's folder BEFORE Staff #2 opens Teddy's participant folder and then the CGS.
If there is an overlap whereby both Staff #1 and Staff #2 have Teddy's folder open at the same time, the "Do you want to start a certification attempt for the participant" message will display when Staff #2 opens the CGS, even though the CGS has already been started.
As long as there is no overlap between when Staff #1 has the participant's folder open and Staff #2 opens the folder, HuBERT will record staff correctly and Staff #2 can view anything Staff #1 may have entered.
Note that if Staff #2 makes any changes in the screens completed by Staff #1, HuBERT will reflect this in the Certification History tab. Staff #1 will be the CREATED BY staff and Staff #2 will be the MODIFIED BY staff.
March 2017 HuBERT Hints #1
Incomplete MCAs Can Cause Error when Trying to Complete CGS
We’ve had a number of Help Desk tickets recently whereby users are receiving a "No height/weight measurement contact was found for current certification attempt" error when reviewing the certification for errors.
This is the result of the MCA Guided Script (GS) not being completed correctly. In order for the MCA GS to be completed, and a Completed Date to be recorded to the database, you must click on the End Mid-certification Assessment icon (NOT the "door" icon which simply closes the MCA GS) once you are done with the MCA GS.
An Infoview report template, INCOMPLETE MCAs, has been developed to help identify participants that currently have a MCA GS that has been started and doesn't have a Completed Date (available in the INFOVIEW TEMPLATES >> Agency Management >> Audits/Chart Review folder).
Please note that when we ran this for all agencies in the state there were only 68 participants since May 1, 2016. However, the process for correcting this error once the certification has been started has multiple steps requiring the incomplete certification to be removed, the incomplete MCA to be removed, and then the CGS to be completed again [if necessary, steps for this are available on the Identified Issues with Current HuBERT Releases page in the What You Should Do section under the topic MCA GS and CGS Icons Active at Same Time (TMP-36)].
To avoid this extra work, we encourage you to proactively complete the MCAs for the participants listed in the report output. To do this, simply run the report, open the Participant Folder for participants listed on the report, open the MCA GS and click the End Mid-certification Assessment icon. The MCA Completed Date will display as the date you clicked on this icon.
Once the MCA has been completed correctly, you should document the actual Completed Date in a General Note with Mid-certification Assessment (MCA) as the subject. The actual Completed Date is the MCA Start Date (the date the MCA was started and would have been completed if completed correctly) on the report output.
December 2016 HuBERT Hints #1
Recertifying Infant 30 Days before First Birthday
CPAs will be able to recertify an infant up to 30 days before their first birthday if it is necessary to sync the infant’s appointments with other household members. If the recert is performed within 30 days of the infant’s first birthday, the certification period will be for one year, not 6 months.
NOTE: This does not apply to infants being initially certified between 6 and 11 months old; these infants are still only certified for a 6-month certification period.
WIC Type
The infant’s WIC Type will not change to Child at the time of the recertification. Their WIC Type will still be automatically updated to Child when End-of-Day is performed on or after the first birth date.
Risk Factors/High Risk
Since the certification is being performed when the participant is still an infant, only those risk factors that apply to infants will display in the Assign Certification Risk Factors screen.
Food Prescriptions
The Select Formula screen will open because the participant is still an infant.
If the infant has a risk factor that is appropriate for both infants and children, a child default food package will be created (if it doesn’t already exist) with an Effective Date of the infant’s first birth date. If the infant only has infant risk factors, the system will NOT auto-create a child’s food package.
Benefit Issuance
Issuance rules pertaining to the infant/child’s food package remain the same: If there is a child food package and the infant’s one year birth date falls between the Printed First Date to Use (PFDTU) and the Last Date to Use (LDTU), the child’s food package will default for that set of benefits.
If the system allows issuance of the child food package, it is the responsibility of the CPA to assess whether an infant or child food package is more appropriate based on the infant’s development.
If an infant food package is appropriate for the last set of benefits, and a child food package exists, then the child food package will need to be deleted and only the last set issued. The other sets will need to be issued separately after a child’s food package has been created/re-created with the infant’s DOB as the Effective Date.
Release 2.22 Document
Participants Certified on 29th – 31st of Month - Benefit Issuance Cycles Start on First of Next Month
In Release 2.20, February benefit issuance issues were corrected by ensuring that issuance cycles do not have a LDTU after the 27th of any month. For participants certified on the 29th, 30th, or 31st who don’t have an established cycle, or a household member who has an established cycle to cycle-adjust to, the system will issues a partial set starting on the current date and ending on the last date of the month. This may result in a benefit for one day. Their cycle will then start on the first of the next month.
April 2015 HuBERT Hints #1
Certification History Tab Displays Date WIC Category Changed from Breastfeeding to Non-Breastfeeding as Cert End Date
For Breastfeeding women who are less than 6 months postpartum and whose WIC Category is changed to Non-Breastfeeding, the Certification History tab will display the date the pseudo-cert was created, or the date the WIC Category was changed, as the cert end date of the Breastfeeding certification record.
For example, a breastfeeding woman's initial certification period is displayed in the Certification History tab as 3/13/13 - 2/28/14:
If her Category is changed from Breastfeeding to Non-Breastfeeding on 6/5/13 the system indicates her new Cert End Date based on her infant's date of birth, which in this instance is 8/31/13:
When we re-open the Certification History tab, it now displays the start and end date of the breastfeeding portion of her most recent certification and will display 6/5/13 as the end date:
However, in the Risk Factors tab, both the breastfeeding portion of her certification from 3/15/13 - 6/5/13 and her non-breastfeeding portion from 6/5/13 - 8/31/13 display.
From the 2.18.06 Release Document
Purpose of "Valid benefits are still available…" Message that Displays before Certification
This pertains to the message "Valid benefits are still available for this participant through Issue Benefits. Would you like to abort the certification process?" that sometimes displays before starting a certification.
When a certification is first started, HuBERT assesses whether there are benefits that can still be auto-suggested in the Issue Benefits screen for the participant’s current certification period. If there are, this message will display.
- The message has two options:
- Yes – abort the cert process (so that you can go to the Issue Benefits screen and issue benefits before starting the cert)
- No – continue with the certification
This allows you to decide whether benefits should be issued before certifying. There are two different scenarios that have caused some confusion:
NOTE: For the following we will use 6-month certs for ease of examples.
- Scenario #1: Participant Certified in Month Cert Ends and Hasn’t Received Benefits for Previous Month
- CHILD's current certification began on: 8/26/12
- Received benefits for August, Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec (for some reason, haven’t received January)
- Cert End Date = 2/28/13
- Cycle = 26th to 25th
- Last Printed First Date to Use (PFDTU) = 12/26/12
- Last Check Last Date to Use (LDTU) = 1/25/13
- Recertifying participant on 2/7/13
- Since the January benefits are the 6th set for the participant's current cert period and the participant is eligible to receive late issuance for January, the system is still able to auto-suggest this set in Issue Benefits and the message will display. If you click Yes on the message and go to Issue Benefits, the following set will be suggested:
- <1/26/2013>2/7/2013-2/25/2013 Three Fourth
The PFDTU is in January and these benefits are counted for that month.
- If you click No on the message, the system begins the cert process. When you open the Issue Benefits screen once the cert is completed, the system now suggests a syncing partial package for February and a full set for February, March and April; it will no longer auto-suggest late issuance for January once the cert is completed.
- 2/7/2013-2/25/2013 Three Fourth
- 2/26/2013-3/27/2013 Full
- 3/26/2013-4/25/2013 Full
- 4/26/2013-5/25/2013 Full
NOTE: Remember, this message displays regardless of whether the issuance would be considered a "late issuance"; it simply displays if benefits can still be auto-suggested by the system in the Issue Benefits screen.
- Scenario #2: Participant Certified Month AFTER Cert Ends and Hasn't Received Benefits for Previous Month
- CHILD's current certification began on: 8/26/12
- Received benefits for August, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan
- Cert End Date = 2/28/13
- Missed original appointment scheduled in February
- Cycle = 26th to 25th
- Last Printed First Date to Use (PFDTU) = 1/26/13
- Last Check Last Date to Use (LDTU) = 2/25/13
- Recertifying participant on 3/7/13
In this case, the participant has received all sets of benefits for their certification period. But, since they missed an appointment last month (February) they didn't receive benefits for that month (February) and they are still eligible to receive late issuance for the month their cert ended (February).
For children who are not turning 5 years old, the system will NOT auto-suggest the set with a PFDTU in the month their cert ends (for all other participants, who technically become categorically ineligible, the system will suggest this last set).
In this case, the system does not have any other benefits it can auto-suggest in the Issue Benefits screen and the message will NOT display. You need to remember to use Add Set to issue the February benefits.
February 2013 HuBERT Hints #2
The Previous Food Package Is Viewable in the Certification Guided Script (CGS)
Due to the link that exists between Risk Factors and Food Prescription assignment, the system is unable to default in the previous food package during the CGS. When asked what food items the participant would prefer, they may respond that they want the "same as last time”".
If this occurs, you can easily view the previous food package in the Food Prescription screen of the CGS. The system creates a default food package (DFP) with the current date at the top of the screen. However, it also lists all previous food packages.
To view their most recent food package, simply double-click the date directly below the new DFP (or single-click on the + sign next to the date).
When editing the new DFP if you need to refer back to the previous food package once the Edit Food Prescription window is open, you can move the Edit window so that the Food Prescription screen is viewable. To do this, click on the title bar of the Edit Food Prescription window and drag it to the right.
March 2012 HuBERT Hints #2
The Cert End Date for All VOCs Should Be the Last Date of the Month in Which the Cert Ends
Description: The Cert End Date should be the last date of the month in which a participant's certification ends when performing VOC transfers.
Explanation: All certification end dates are calculated by HuBERT as the last date of the month in which a certification ends. If a participant comes from a state that ends their certification based on the actual date the participant was certified, you should round up to the last date of that month and enter that as the Cert End Date for all WIC Types.
- Example:
- Cert End Date on VOC = 2/07/2012
- Cert End Date for MN WIC = 2/29/2012 (Note: February 2012 is a Leap Year.)
What You Should Do: If you are performing a VOC certification, you must enter the last date of the month in which the cert ends as the Cert End Date.
January 2012 HuBERT Hints #1
Reminders about VOCs
- The following are just some reminders about out-of-state transfers, or VOCs:
- The Cert End Date is required for VOCs – make sure to enter the last date of the month if the cert ends on a date during the month
- VOCs do not display in the Certification History tab since only certifications completed via the Certification Guided Script (CGS) display – this information can be found in the Risk Factors tab because the system auto-assigns Risk Factor 502 - Transfer of Certification
- The Cert Start Date for VOCs is the date on which the VOC is performed
- VOCs should only be performed if the participant is in a current cert – if their cert from another state has ended, do not perform a VOC, simply Prescreen (if necessary) and certify via the CGS
August 2011 HuBERT Hints #4
Why Can't We Add More than One Nutrition Education Contact per Day?
HuBERT only allows one Nutrition Education contact of the same type per day because it has a validation rule in which the Contact Date must be greater than the participant's previous nutrition education contact.
If a contact is entered via the Certification Guided Script (CGS), a new Nutrition Education contact of the same type (i.e. Individual Primary Contact) cannot be added in the Participant Folder. However, it can be edited.
If you forget to include a topic when the contact is first created, you can select the Nutrition Education contact in the tree in the Nutrition Education Contacts/Peer Counselor Referrals/Materials Given for Household Member section of the screen, which will enable the Edit Contact, Material or Referral button.
August 2011 HuBERT Hints #4
Still Need to Complete Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy Screen if Participant Miscarries
Description: The Health Information screen, including the Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy screen, must be completed if a participant miscarries and she is certified as postpartum.
Explanation: The function of the Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy screen is two-fold. It collects information about the pregnancy for which the woman is being certified as postpartum and it allows you to link records.
What You Should Do: When completing the Health Information screen, the Infant(s) Born from This Pregnancy screen should be opened and Stillborn, Miscarriage, or Abortion selected from the Infant Status at Birth field if you are certifying a postpartum woman who has miscarried. When this is selected, ALL other fields are disabled in that screen.
August 2011 HuBERT Hints #2