WIC’s Critical Benefits Reach Only Half of Those Eligible - States Missing Out on Opportunity to Improve Pregnancy-Related,

Thus, increasing WIC coverage across the board — and for pregnant people of color and their infants in particular — can be an important part of a strategy to improve pregnancy-related and child health, mitigate the large pregnancy-related health disparities affecting these communities, and advance racial equity in other aspects of pregnancy-related and child health and food security. [...] 28 USDA, Food and Nutrition Service, “National and State Estimates of WIC Eligibility and Program Reach in 2021.” 7 The WIC coverage rates for 2016-2020 are not comparable to earlier data due to a change in USDA’s methodology for estimating the eligible population. [...] State WIC agencies can work with state Medicaid agencies to automatically refer Medicaid applicants and enrollees to WIC and to promote referrals by managed care organizations, health care providers, and community-based health workers.36 For example, in some states the WIC agency is partnering with the Medicaid and/or SNAP agency to identify enrollees in those programs who are eligible for WIC but. [...] During 2022, USDA awarded grants of $350,000 each to state WIC agencies for projects to develop a modern WIC experience at the state and local level by introducing technology that works for both participants and staff, improving communication (including to people with limited English proficiency), and incorporating human-centered design and user feedback in decisions about program changes.48 In 20. [...] Funding will also soon be available to state WIC agencies to use Medicaid and SNAP data to identify families who are eligible for WIC but not enrolled, conduct targeted outreach to them, and measure the effectiveness of this strategy to increase WIC take-up.50 These funding streams provide a unique opportunity for states to address barriers and implement strategies to increase WIC participation.