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WIC provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, and referrals to health and
other social services to participants at no charge. WIC serves low-income pregnant,
postpartum and breastfeeding women, and infants and children up to age 5 who are
at nutrition risk.
WIC is not an entitlement program; that is, Congress does not set aside funds to
allow every eligible individual to participate in the program. Instead, WIC is a
Federal grant program for which Congress authorizes a specific amount of funding
each year for program operations. The Food and Nutrition Service, which administers
the program at the Federal level, provides these funds to WIC State agencies (State
health departments or comparable agencies) to pay for WIC foods, nutrition education,
and administrative costs.
Where is WIC available?
The program is available in all 50 States, 34 Indian Tribal Organizations, America
Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Commonwealth Islands of the Northern Marianas,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These 90 WIC State agencies administer the
program through 2,200 local agencies and 9,000 clinic sites.
Who is eligible?
Pregnant or postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They
must meet income guidelines, a State residency requirement, and be individually
determined to be at "nutrition risk" by a health professional.
To be eligible on the basis of income, applicants' income must fall at or below
185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines (currently $37,000 for a family
of four). A person who participates or has family members who participate in certain
other benefit programs, such as the Food Stamp Program, Medicaid, or Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families, automatically meets the income eligibility requirement.
What is "nutrition risk?"
Two major types of nutrition risk are recognized for WIC eligibility:
- Medically-based risks such as anemia, underweight, overweight, history of pregnancy
complications, or poor pregnancy outcomes.
- Dietary risks, such as failure to meet the dietary guidelines or inappropriate nutrition
practices.
Nutrition risk is determined by a health professional such as a physician, nutritionist,
or nurse, and is based on Federal guidelines. This health screening is free to program
applicants.
How many people does WIC serve?
More than 8 million people get WIC benefits each month. In 1974, the first year
WIC was permanently authorized, 88,000 people participated. By 1980, participation
was at 1.9 million; by 1985 it was 3.1 million; and by 1990 it was 4.5 million.
Average monthly participation for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 was approximately 7.9 million.
Children have always been the largest category of WIC participants. Of the 7.9 million
people who received WIC benefits each month in FY 2004, approximately 4 million
were children, 2 million were infants, and 1.9 million were women.
What food benefits do WIC participants recieve?
In most WIC State agencies, WIC participants receive checks or vouchers to purchase
specific foods each month that are designed to supplement their diets. A few WIC
State agencies distribute the WIC foods through warehouses or deliver the foods
to participants' homes. The foods provided are high in one or more of the following
nutrients: protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C. These are the nutrients
frequently lacking in the diets of the program's target population. Different food
packages are provided for different categories of participants.
WIC foods include iron-fortified infant formula and infant cereal, iron-fortified
adult cereal, vitamin C-rich fruit or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut
butter, dried beans/peas, tuna fish and carrots. Special therapeutic infant formulas
and medical foods may be provided when prescribed by a physician for a specified
medical condition.
Who gets first priority for participation?
WIC cannot serve all eligible people, so a system of priorities has been established
for filling program openings. Once a local WIC agency has reached its maximum caseload,
vacancies are filled in the order of the following priority levels:
- Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and infants determined to be at nutrition risk
because of a nutrition-related medical condition.
- Infants up to 6 months of age whose mothers participated in WIC or could have participated
and had a serious medical problem.
- Children at nutrition risk because of a nutrition-related medical problem.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women and infants at nutrition risk because of an inadequate
dietary pattern.
- Children at nutrition risk because of an inadequate dietary pattern.
- Non-breastfeeding, postpartum women with any nutrition risk.
- Individuals at nutrition risk only because they are homeless or migrants, and current
participants who, without WIC foods, could continue to have medical and/or dietary
problems.
What is the WIC infant formula rebate system?
Mothers participating in WIC are encouraged to breastfeed their infants if possible,
but WIC State agencies provide infant formula for mothers who choose to use this
feeding method. WIC State agencies are required by law to have competitively bid
infant formula rebate contracts with infant formula manufacturers. This means WIC
State agencies agree to provide one brand of infant formula and in return the manufacturer
gives the State agency a rebate for each can of infant formula purchased by WIC
participants. The brand of infant formula provided by WIC varies from State agency
to State agency depending on which company has the rebate contract in a particular
State.
By negotiating rebates with formula manufacturers, States are able to serve more
people. For FY 2004, rebate savings were $1.64 billion, supporting an average of
2 million participants each month, or 25 percent of the estimated average monthly
caseload.
What is WIC's current funding level?
Congress appropriated $5.204 billion for WIC in FY 2006. By comparison, the WIC
Program appropriation was $20.6 million in 1974; $750 million in 1980; $1.5 billion
in 1985; and $2.1 billion in 1990.
This information is from the USDA's WIC Fact Sheet. This information is available
in PDF form on the USDA WIC website.
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