WINNIE the Scoop! Newsletters

March 5, 2026

Upcoming important dates 

• Sunday, March 8 – Daylight Savings begins (set clocks forward one hour)
• Friday, March 20, 8:00 PM – Monday, March 23, 7:00 AM – All WINNIE environments UNAVAILABLE for maintenance
• Saturday, Feb. 14 – Monday, March 23 – Unable to scan/import in WINNIE Training
• Friday, March 27, 11:00 AM – Monday, March 30, 7:00 AM – Infoview UNAVAILABLE for maintenance

Food package changes

Reminder! You should ALWAYS call or contact the MN Help Desk with any WINNIE questions or issues. The MN Help Desk is ALWAYS your first call for help!

• Phone: 1-800-488-8799, press 2, 2
• Email: mnhelpdesk@gainwelltechnologies.com

Default food packages are glitchy during transition

Please be very conscientious when creating default food packages (DFPs) for current food prescriptions and future with the new food package changes. We have found that since we have both old food items and new in the default food packages (what displays for the DFP depends on the Effective Date), food items and their quantities can be glitchy. Use the WINNIE Update Document – Phase 3 Food Package Changes if unsure what the appropriate food items and quantities should be when creating current or future default food packages.

Potential over-issuance

It is possible to over-issue certain food items as we transition to the new food package both when creating food prescriptions and using Adjust Benefits. Over-issuance can occur anywhere the default food package charts indicate a decrease or increase in quantity and is due to higher maximum quantities set on the back-end in order to allow for higher quantities in either the current or future food packages.

These quantities will be adjusted at the end of June. Until then, always reference the WINNIE Update Document – Phase 3 Food Package Changes if unsure what the appropriate quantity should be when creating or adjusting a current or future food package.

Remember to verify whole grains

Whole grains in existing food prescriptions must still be corrected prior to issuing benefits. Although the default food prescriptions and all previously issued benefits have been updated to correctly display whole grains in ounces, existing food prescriptions display a value of 1 or 2 ounces. If this quantity is issued, families will not be able to purchase any whole grain food items.

Benefits can be adjusted if they are issued with the incorrect amount of whole grains. You can use the Infoview FOOD & FORMULA ITEMS ISSUED BY PFDTU report to proactively identify these participants. Enter 58 into the Food Item prompt and use the input controls to limit the output to select 1 and 2 for the Item Quantity.

Remember to verify CVB amounts for postpartum and pregnant women

CVB amounts increased by $1 for pregnant and postpartum food packages in January. These participants should be receiving CVBs for $48. Please double-check and ensure the CVB amount is $48 for pregnant and postpartum women before issuing benefits.

Manually increment CVB

Another food package transition issue appears to be that you are unable to use the spin up/down arrows to increase/decrease the CVB amount. The increment amount on the back-end has been adjusted to 300 for food packages 4, 5, 6 and 7, 450 for 7+, and 1100 for food package 2 so that it will increase the appropriate amount once juice for women/children, and infant fruits/vegetables for infants, are removed. You can try to use the spin arrows to adjust the CVB since it appears to work for some. However, if it doesn’t work, you will need to double-click the quantity to highlight it and type the appropriate amount in cents. This issue will be resolved in July once we are out of the transition period.

June food package issuance – reminder!

This information was previously sent via email on Friday, Feb. 26

Please do NOT create June food packages in advance. June food packages should only be created at the time June benefits are issued and when the participant is on the phone or present in person. At that point, create the June food prescription using the updated NEW food items.

Before issuing any June benefits, you must review the WINNIE Update Document – Phase 3 Food Package Changes

The training environment has been updated if you’d like to practice the new process.

If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk (1-800-488-8799, press 2, 2 or mnhelpdesk@gainwelltechnologies.com).

Update document

The WINNIE Update Document – Phase 3 Food Package Changes has been updated/revised a number of times since it was first posted on the MDH WIC website. As best practice, please don’t print this document; bookmark it instead. This way, you will always have the most recent version available to you.

Do NOT enter false data into WINNIE! Remember to issue last set of benefits for breastfeeding women first

We’ve learned from the Help Desk that some users are changing and entering false data into WINNIE. They are entering false data to work around no longer being able to issue the last set of benefits to a breastfeeding woman. Entering false data into the database is NOT allowed.

If baby has turned one year old and a breastfeeding mom has not yet received the last set of benefits that she is eligible to receive (Printed First Date to Use before Cert End Date), you must remember to issue her last set of benefits before updating the Breastfeeding Verified Date in Health Information. You do NOT need to update this date before you can issue to mom; it only needs to be updated to issue benefits to the infant/child.

If you are updating Health Information and you see the following message that specifically tells you mom is going to be terminated, you must click NO.

After clicking No on the message, exit Health Information without saving and issue mom’s benefits.

If you click Yes on the message and are in the participant folder or certification mode, you will not be able to issue the last set of benefits to mom and you will have to call the Help Desk. The Help Desk may be able to assist you with providing the last benefit set.

(NOTE! You cannot correct this by removing the incomplete certification since any changes to infant/child Health Information are maintained.)

New State Use Question option

A new option for the First time formula/other given to infant (meds ok) State Use Question will be available beginning Friday, March 6, 2026. You can now select “BF, donor milk, and formula given in the hospital” if the infant was fed by all three methods during their hospital stay. This will allow us to more accurately track both formula exposure and donor milk usage for WIC participants. Guidance and definitions can be found in the Breastfeeding Exclusivity document in the INFOVIEW TEMPLATES >> State Use Questions >> Breastfeeding Exclusivity folder in Infoview.

Use hot keys to quickly select from dropdowns

After you’re familiar with the items in a dropdown, you can speed up selection using hot keys. Start typing the first few alphanumeric characters of the option you want, and the dropdown will filter or highlight matching entries automatically. Some dropdowns, especially Nutrition Education, can be more difficult to become familiar with due to the sheer number of topics.

As a potential reference, a new Infoview template called NUTRITION EDUCATION TOPICS LIST is now available in the INFOVIEW TEMPLATES >> Nutrition Education folder. This report has two tabs, PRIMARY and SECONDARY, and groups Nutrition Education topics by WIC type.

Infoview UNAVAILABLE starting at 11:00 a.m. on March 27

A service upgrade will be installed in Infoview beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 27. The upgrade is being installed during the week to ensure Gainwell has installation support from the Infoview software company. You will not be able to run any Infoview reports after 11:00 a.m. on March 27. Please plan to run any daily reports (such as One Call, etc.) before 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 27.

New Infoview report available – assignment of 400 risk factors

Per MOM, Section 5.3.4, a dietary risk factor should be assigned as part of the complete nutrition assessment performed during certifications. If a dietary risk factor is not identified, risk factor 428 (4-23 months) or 401 (2 years and older) should be assigned.

A new Infoview report (requested by a Local Agency), NOT ASSIGNED 400 (DIETARY) RISK FACTORS AT CERT, is now available in the INFOVIEW TEMPLATES >> Agency Management >> Audits/Chart Reviews folder and can help your agency assess whether this requirement is being met.

February 5, 2026

Upcoming important dates 

• Saturday, Feb. 7 – Update Security Certificates (SSL) on WINNIE servers
• Thursday, Feb. 12 – Friday, Feb. 13 – WINNIE Training UNAVAILABLE for maintenance
• Saturday, Feb. 14 – Sunday, March 15 – Unable to scan/import in WINNIE Training (updated!)
• Monday, Feb. 16 – Presidents’ Day – MN Help Desk AVAILABLE; State Office CLOSED
• Friday, Feb. 20, 8:00 PM – Monday, Feb. 23, 7:00 AM – All WINNIE environments UNAVAILABLE for back-end food package changes

Food package changes - phase III

We are preparing for phase III of food package changes. With this phase, all current food items (NOT formula) will have an end date of May 31. We will be adding all new food items and default food packages for women, children and infants 6-11 months old, and you will not be able to issue benefits with a Printed First Date to Use (PFDTU) of June 1 or after without first creating a new food prescription.

The new default food packages will be added during the weekend of Feb. 21-22 and available as of Feb. 23. All WINNIE environments (Clinic, Training, Mobile Management, and Infoview) will be UNAVAILABLE from 8:00 PM on Friday, Feb. 20 through 7:00 AM Monday, Feb. 23. You will have to use the new default food packages to create new food prescriptions for all women, children, and infants 6-11 months old with an Effective Date of June 1 or after before issuing June benefits.

For now, if the system attempts to create new food prescriptions for infant and children age category changes with an Effective Date after May 31, you will receive an error indicating all the food items are expired:

If you receive this message, just click OK to close it. Until the new default food packages are available in Production, you will not be able to create new food prescriptions with an Effective Date after May 31.

The newly added food items in the new default food packages will display “NEW – “ in front of them in WINNIE. This will not display in the app, or on Account Balances/Shopping Lists.

Watch for an update document available on Feb. 19.

Update security certificate (SSL) – may impact login

Gainwell will be updating the SSL certificate on the WINNIE servers this Saturday, Feb. 7. Although this update should be transparent to all users, last year when the SSL was updated some users had difficulty logging in after the update.

Gainwell determined this was due to caching issues, whereby the older certificates had been maintained for some WINNIE users, and users were unable to progress past the location retrieval message after logging in:

If this occurs, you will need to clear your browser’s cache. Once cleared, the login process should continue. You can find instructions for clearing the cache on the WINNIE Training page in the Reference Documents dropdown.

Clear browser cache is found on page 3:

• Browser Settings for Microsoft Edge (PDF)
• Browser Settings for Google Chrome (PDF)

If you continue to have difficulty logging in after clearing your cache, please call the Help Desk (1-800-488-8799, press 2, 2) for assistance.

WINNIE training unavailable - updated Feb. 11

The WINNIE Training environment will be unavailable on Thursday, Feb. 12 – Friday, Feb. 13 for back-end maintenance. From Saturday, Feb. 14 – Sunday, March 15, you will be unable to use the Scan/Import functions in the Training environment.

Reminders!

Do not issue 4 months of benefits

WINNIE will sometimes suggest 4 months of benefits, and participants should only be issued a maximum of 3 months of benefits at one time. We usually see a fourth set being suggested when a new member is added to a household and some of the existing members have already received benefits. The system provides a partial for the new member with a Printed First Date to Use (PFDTU) in the current month plus 3 additional months with PFDTUs in the next three following months. (This is not the same as providing a partial and full package where the PFDTU both fall into the same month.) In these instances, the new member should only be issued the partial and two following months, maintaining the household’s current tri-monthly issuance.

High risk resolution not maintained after pseudo-cert

CPAs can resolve system-assigned high risk when it is no longer appropriate. However, CPA resolved high-risk is not maintained if a pseudo-cert occurs. If the system reassesses risk factors and assigns or resolves a risk factor, WINNIE will reassign the system-assigned high risk.

If you notice that high risk is being reassigned even when a pseudo-cert does not occur, please contact the MN Help Desk (mnhelpdesk@gainwelltechnologies.com or 1-800-488-8799, press 2, 2) so that we can research whether there is an issue with this functionality.

New bugs/issues added to WINNIE Bugs & Issues webpage

The following bugs have been added to the WINNIE Bugs & Issues page on the MDH WIC website.

Issue Benefits: "Error Loading Data" message when issuing benefits to fully-breastfeeding mom and infant

Added 1/27/26 (URB 278895)

Description: The message "Error loading the data" displays when attempting to issue benefits to a fully breastfeeding mom and infant when the infant's 6-month birthdate falls one day after the third set's cycle start date. For example, an infant's birthdate is 9/29/25, the household's cycle is the 28th-27th, and benefits for January, February, and March are being issued. The infant will turn 6 months old on 3/29/26 and has a food package with an Effective Date of 3/29/26. The infant is not eligible for the March benefits that begin on 3/28/26 because they must be 6 months old on that date to receive benefits. However, the system suggests January, February, and March benefits for mom and March benefits for the infant with dates of 3/28/26-4/27/26. The "Error Loading Data..." message displays before attempting to issue benefits. If you OK through the message and try to issue benefits, the system will eventually time out and no benefits are issued to either mom or baby. Toggling off benefits for the infant does not resolve this issue.

What to do: You can change the Selected LDTU to the 26th or earlier. The system will stop suggesting the incorrect benefits for the infant and benefits can be issued to mom.

Resolution: Not assigned to release.

Peer Counselor Contacts: Discrepancy between Contact and Created Dates when entered late in the day

Added 1/27/26 (URB 278414)

Description: When Peer Counselor Contacts are added later in the day (typically after 6:00 PM), WINNIE is saving the contact date as if it occurred the following day. Ex: Peer Counselor Contact saved at 6:30 PM on 1/14/26 is displaying a contact date of 1/15/26.

What to do: This is a display issue.

Resolution: Not assigned to release.

Infoview advanced concepts training modules available

If you’ve ever repeatedly modified your Infoview reports after exporting them or wondered how to organize your reports, these Advanced Concepts training modules may be helpful to you. The intent is to help you become a more effective and efficient user of Infoview. You don’t have to watch all the modules in their entirety; each training module has a Table of Contents that will help you find the topic you might want to review.

• Infoview Training 5A – Advanced Concepts: Managing Personal Folders (6 min.) – copy/paste templates to folders; move reports; add and rename folders.
• Infoview Training 5B – Advanced Concepts: Intro to Design Mode (7 min.) – design mode; advanced refresh; high-level overview of formulas, queries and dimensions.
• Infoview Training 5C – Advanced Concepts: Modifying Report Outputs 1 (9 min.) – add, rename, and delete columns; undo; format headers and cells; format tables.
• Infoview Training 5D – Advanced Concepts: Modifying Report Outputs 2 (9 min.) – move columns; format text; sort data; format tabs.
• Infoview Training 5E – Advanced Concepts: Adding Filters (11 min.) – add, edit, and delete input controls; use variables as filter.

These training modules can be found under Infoview on the Other Information System Training page of the MDH WIC website.

January 8, 2026 - updated Jan. 13

Upcoming important dates 

• Monday, Jan. 12 – Whole grains to ounces, cash-value benefit (CVB) increase, and food package changes
• Monday, Jan. 19 – Martin Luther King Day – MN Help Desk AVAILABLE; State Office CLOSED
• Monday, Jan. 19 – Training database UNAVAILABLE for refresh

Whole grains to ounces, CVB increase, and food package changes

Much of this information was also provided in the December 17 Weekly Update in the WIC food package and cash value benefit (CVB) changes, Jan. 12, 2026 memo.

Whole grains in ounces

As part of the federally regulated WIC food package changes, beginning Jan. 12, whole grains will be shown in ounces instead of pounds. Participants will not be able to purchase whole grains on Saturday, Jan. 10 – Sunday, Jan. 11 while the food items are being updated. The state will send app notifications both Jan. 9 and Jan. 12 as a reminder to participants.

The whole grain food items will automatically display in ounces in WINNIE and the app once this food package change has been completed.

UPDATED INFORMATION (1/12/26): A new food prescription MUST be created for all participants before issuing benefits to ensure they receive the correct quantity of whole grains. If benefits are issued without first updating the food prescription, they will be issued only 1 or 2 ounces and will not be able to purchase any whole grain food items.

A video, WIC Whole Grain Changes, provides some general information about this transition and is available at: https://vimeo.com/1151987271/2ce2553cf3?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci. WIC App users will receive a notification with a link to this video on Friday, Jan. 9.

CVB annual inflation adjustment

Due to WIC regulations, CVB amounts require annual inflation adjustments. On Jan. 12, CVB amounts that are currently $47 and provided in the pregnant and postpartum default food packages will increase to $48. No other CVB amounts are impacted by this adjustment.

CPAs will need to create new food prescriptions when pregnant and postpartum participants are issued their next set of benefits. Agencies are NOT required to void and reissue the benefits that have already been issued.

Food package changes

New whole grain and tuna options, along with SunButter (an alternative to peanut butter), will also be available for participants to purchase beginning Monday, Jan. 12. For a listing of these new food items, please refer to the New WIC food options coming Jan. 12, 2026 memo.

App release 9.1.3 corrected YouTube video issue

An app update was available to all users beginning Monday, Dec. 29. This corrected the issues users were having accessing the shopping help videos on YouTube via the app.

Always delete food items being replaced before adding new

Best practice is to always delete the food items you are replacing before adding the new food items when tailoring or adjusting food packages. The reason for this is twofold.

First, due to how the maximums are set in WINNIE, adding a food item before removing the unwanted food item will exceed the maximum amount allowed. For example, if you want to exchange yogurt for 1 quart of milk, you cannot add the milk until you’ve removed the yogurt.

Second, WINNIE allows over-issuance when providing infant fruits/vegetables and infant cereal for children and women receiving Food Package III. The reason for this is that the maximums allowed for these food items are separate from the CVB and regular cereal so a combined maximum cannot be assessed. If you were to add infant fruits/vegetables before removing the CVB, the system would not remind you to remove the CVB and if you don’t remove it, you will over-issue.

Infoview

Should be working faster

Some adjustments were made to Infoview 4.3 last week. Infoview should be running more efficiently since these changes were made. If you see any issues, please contact the MN Help Desk for assistance (1-800-488-8799, press 2, 2 or mnhelpdesk@gainwelltechnologies.com).

Search not working

The search feature is still not working with Infoview 4.3. Gainwell is currently researching the issue.

TIP! Remember to select Personal Folders when saving templates

When saving your own version of a template, Infoview defaults to the INFOVIEW TEMPLATES folder in the Save As modal, not your Personal Folders. Remember to select Personal Folders when saving. Otherwise, an error will display indicating you don’t have the rights to save the template.

December 4, 2025

Questions/suggestions from Local Agencies

Appointments in the App

Is there a way for the appointments tab to indicate to the participant if the appointment is virtual or in person?

Currently, the only way to designate an appointment as virtual is by scheduling it at a TeleWIC Appointment Clinic since only the clinic address displays in the app (and not the appointment type).

If scheduled at this clinic, TELEWIC APPOINTMENT displays in the app, and staff would need to ensure that participants understand that this type of appointment does not require them to attend the appointment in person.

Coordinators at agencies that don’t currently have the TeleWIC Appointment Clinic can request it using the Change Grantees, Agencies or Clinics in IS and/or on MDH Website form.

November 6, 2025

Reminder! When contacting the MN Help Desk, you must provide…

This is just a reminder that when you contact the MN Help Desk, you will be required to provide the following information:

• Your first and last name.
• Agency ID.
• Description of the issue.
• State WIC ID or Household ID (if appropriate).

This information allows both the Help Desk and the State to track issues that may be occurring at agencies and for specific users.

You can contact the Help Desk by calling or via email:

• Call: 1-800-488-8799, press 2, 2 (non-critical)
• Email: mnhelpdesk@gainwelltechnologies.com

Reminder! Infoview reports still need corrections

This is just a reminder that there are many Infoview reports that still need corrections since our transition to WINNIE. Any reports that provide information about new certifications, local use answers, state use answers, and staff ID will require revising to ensure accuracy. At this time, the State Office is only correcting reports based on requests from local agencies to prioritize revising reports that are currently being used. You can view corrected reports on the Infoview Report Revisions and Corrections page.

Questions/suggestions from Local Agencies

Mobile Management

We now have to enter the Multi-factor Authentication in Mobile Management. Could we get a Remember Me toggle like we have for WINNIE?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) was introduced as part of a new security requirement. Similar to WINNIE, Mobile Management enforces a 15-minute inactivity timeout. The key difference is that we were able to successfully advocate for a 30-minute timeout in WINNIE, whereas the security team maintained the 15-minute limit for Mobile Management.

Regarding the "Remember Me" toggle, this feature has been added for consideration in a future Mobile Management release.

Race/ethnicity selection

Can there be an “Other” option for race/ethnicity if a participant does not feel any of the race options align with how they would describe themselves?

Unfortunately, we are limited by federal requirements on the selections we can provide for race and ethnicity. The Racial and Ethnic Data Collection (PDF) tool includes some helpful descriptions that can facilitate a participant’s selection, including some ideas for those who identify as Hispanic or Latino, and there is some clarifying information on the WIC Civil Rights Resources page as well. Please note that if a participant refuses to self-select, you must select based on your perceptions of the participant.

Benefit redemption

For a family with multiple household members (a woman, child over 2, and child under 2) with the WIC-allowed milk food item:

If they are buying evaporated milk, whose food package does it come off from? Does the fat content of the evaporated milk purchased make a difference?

The fat content is important since 1–2-year-old children, in general, should be receiving the Whole Milk (WIC-allowed) food item while children over 2 and women are receiving the Fat Free/Skim Milk or 1% (WIC-allowed) food item. If they buy a combination of lower fat and whole evaporated milk, it will pull the low-fat item from either the older child or woman’s benefits and the whole from the 1–2-year-olds benefits. If they buy only whole evaporated, it will only come off the 1–2-year old’s benefits.

How about soy milk?

Soy beverage is different in that it can only be purchased if issued the Fat Free/Skim Milk or 1% (WIC-allowed) food item. You can issue this to 1-2 year old children because it is the only option for soy (and goat milk). Please refer to the Food Package Changes to Implement on June 9 (PDF) memo for this information and reference.

Is there an order to which household member a food item is removed from first, such as for the cereal or the fruit and vegetable benefit?

No and yes. For most food items that are issued to multiple family members, the order appears to be random (it is actually based on some internal number assigned by the eWIC processor but looks random to us). For example, although two members may both have cereal and eggs, in one transaction, the eggs may be removed from member 1 while the cereal is removed from member 2. This is why Adjust Benefits aggregates food items issued to multiple members, so that regardless of the benefit transaction, as long as the household total is greater than the redeemed, you can still make changes to the food item for any of the members issued that food item.

That said, there are certain food items, like yogurt that is removed from the member issued the more “restrictive food item” first. For example, mom is issued the Yogurt (low fat/nonfat) option while her 1–2-year-old child is issued Yogurt (any WIC-allowed). The low fat/nonfat food item issued to mom is more restrictive because only low fat/nonfat yogurt can be purchased while both low fat/nonfat OR whole yogurt can be purchased with the any WIC-allowed option. So, when the family buys a low-fat yogurt, since that is the more restrictive food item, it will come off of mom’s benefits first.

Please note that although this information may be helpful to staff in some way, participants should always be referred to their aggregated benefit balance in the app.

October 2, 2025

WINNIE Questions & Answers webpage removed

We have removed the WINNIE Questions & Answers webpage since it was created to house local agency questions and answers before we transitioned to WINNIE. Any still pertinent information has been moved to the WINNIE User Tips page.

Please contact the MN Help Desk (1-800-488-8799, press 2, 2 or mnhelpdesk@gainwelltechnologies.com) with any information system (WINNIE, Mobile Management, Infoview) questions.

The following forms are still available on the Local Agencies webpage (in the WIC Forms for Local Agencies section >> Information System dropdown):

• WIC IS Software Change Request Form – suggest potential changes to the information system.
• WIC App Suggestions – suggest changes or enhancements to the WIC mobile app.
• Local Agency Reports & Data Request – submit data requests or report questions.

End-of-Month (EOM) information in Weekly Update

Beginning in September, we have started providing EOM information the week prior to running EOM in the Weekly Update – IMPORTANT section. It will include when EOM will be run, when the Infoview Year-to-Date Participation report can be run after EOM, and when initial and closed-out participation counts will be available on the Monthly Participation webpage and Local Agency Portal.

September 4, 2025

Due to the NWA Technology Conference, there is no WINNIE the Scoop for this month.

August 7, 2025

Other language access added to eWIC customer service line August 7

An option to go directly to a customer service representative that can connect the participant to the Language Line has been added to the eWIC Customer Service line and will be available beginning August 7. The following has been added after the voice prompt to press 2 for Spanish:

• "For other, press 3."

Once the participant presses 3, the voice prompt says:

• "I’ll transfer you to a representative who can help you. Please hold."

When the customer service rep answers, state the needed language, and the rep will use the Language Line for the remainder of the call.

This information has been updated in the eWIC Customer Service training module. The revised version is now available on the WINNIE Training page.

July 3, 2025

Request training accounts AFTER database refresh

There has been some confusion about when to request new training accounts when a training database refresh has been scheduled. Since the quarterly refresh completely wipes out all access to the database (accounts or usernames and passwords), if your agency uses a training account, you will need to contact the Help Desk after the refresh has been completed to have your training account re-created. The earliest the Help Desk can re-create your training account would be the day after the scheduled quarterly training database refresh.

June 5, 2025

New weekly Mobile Management purge begins June 15

Beginning June 15, a new purge of Mobile Management records will occur every week on Sunday. This regularly-scheduled purge will assist agencies in managing their conversations by removing old conversations and their attachments. This may also improve its processing speed. This purge will include:

• Closed conversations: 1 month after the closed date.
• Open conversation and any attachments:
  • 1 month after the date of the last response.
  • 1 month after being created if have never been replied to and/or viewed.

May 1, 2025

Call the MN Help Desk First if You Have Signature Pad Issues

If you are having an issue with your signature pad, please call the Help Desk to first trouble-shoot the issue before requesting a new signature pad. Often, the issue can be resolved by updating drivers or with other assistance. In general, we will not replace signature pads if a hardware request is submitted and there isn’t a call to the Help Desk documenting that you are having problems with your signature pad and that troubleshooting did not resolve the issue(s).

Initial Contacts and Unexpected Participants in Infoview Outputs

We’ve seen a couple of instances whereby participants are displaying on the Initial Contacts Requirements Not Met Infoview report that show an Initial Contact has been completed when the modal is opened in WINNIE.

Explanation: Upon research, we have determined that this occurs when you complete the Initial Contact after the certification. When an Initial Contact record is created, it has two dates associated with it: the Initial Contact Date that you see in the modal and that you can change (up to 30 days prior to the current date) and the record’s Create Date/Time. The Create Date/Time is when the Initial Contact record was added in WINNIE and can only be seen in the database. The Create Date/Time is how we can determine that these Initial Contact records are being created after the certification is completed.

How Initial Contacts Work: When an Initial Contact is created, a record is inserted into the database with a blank Certification ID. If a certification is completed after the Initial Contact, but within 60 days of its Create Date/Time, the unique Certification ID assigned to that cert when it is completed is entered into the Initial Contact record, linking the Initial Contact to that certification. However, if the Initial Contact is created after the certification, the system does not retroactively link it to the cert. Instead, the Initial Contact record waits for a certification to be completed on a date that is after the Initial Contact’s Create Date/Time or it is removed during End-of-Day after 60 days, whichever occurs first.

While the Initial Contact record waits to be linked (within 60 days of its being added), it appears as if it has been completed correctly, especially if you have changed the Initial Contact Date to a date prior to the certification.

Initial Contacts and Infoview Outputs: Infoview reports that identify incomplete or unmet requirements compare the Initial Contact’s Create Date/Time to the Cert Start Date. If the Initial Contact’s Create Date/Time is after the Cert Start Date (and other report criteria are also met) the participant will display in the output as not having a completed Initial Contact.

April 3, 2025

Infoview Reports – Counting Certs/Recerts

This is just a reminder that in order for Infoview reports to correctly count certifications, they must be started and completed on the same date. This is due to the criterion used to exclude pseudo-certs, which requires the Cert Start Date (date started) to be equal to the Cert Effective Date (date completed).

March 6, 2025

All content has been deleted since no longer timely or relevant OR has been moved to the WINNIE Bugs & Issues or WINNIE User Tips pages.

February 6, 2025

All content has been deleted since no longer timely or relevant OR has been moved to the WINNIE Bugs & Issues or WINNIE User Tips pages.

January 9, 2025

All content has been deleted since no longer timely or relevant OR has been moved to the WINNIE Bugs & Issues or WINNIE User Tips pages.

December 5, 2024

All content has been deleted since no longer timely or relevant OR has been moved to the WINNIE User Tips page.

November 7, 2024

All content has been deleted since no longer timely or relevant OR has been moved to the WINNIE Bugs & Issues or WINNIE User Tips pages.

October 3, 2024

WINNIE Training

“Cheat Sheets” and WINNIE Functionality

At this time, we are not providing “cheat sheets” for most of WINNIE’s functions. However, we’ve created two that address specific scenarios:

• Change Household ID – Direct Shipped Formula
• In Case of Participant Death

Both of these can be found under Change Household ID on the WINNIE Training page.

If, once you have reviewed the training modules, you feel there is another specific scenario that may require a cheat sheet, please use the WINNIE Questions about Training form to submit your suggestion.

September 12, 2024

Future Approved Change Requests for WINNIE

Any suggested changes to WINNIE must be documented by the State Office and assigned a severity, discussed with (and approved by) the SPIRIT Users Group (SUG), and then prioritized by the SUG for inclusion in a future release.

The following were suggestions provided by our pilots that will be included in a future release.

August 1, 2024

All previous WINNIE the Scoop content has been deleted since no longer timely or relevant.

July 11, 2024

Training - Reference Documents Available

Per requests from local agencies, we’ve added a couple of documents to assist with training.

1. WINNIE Training Module Checklist (WORD) – lists all modules by topic and their duration and can be used to keep track of the modules or information in modules that you’ve completed.

2. Reference for browser settings based on your preferred default browser – “how to”: set your default browser, ensure your login isn’t saved, clear your browse cache, bookmark the WINNIE login page, set your zoom preference, allow pop-ups in WINNIE, ensure downloads are deleted daily, and open the Develop Console, which may be helpful when working with the MN Help Desk.

• Browser Settings for Microsoft Edge (PDF)
• Browser Settings for Google Chrome (PDF)

June 6, 2024 - November 18, 2020

All previous WINNIE the Scoop content has been deleted since no longer timely or relevant.