WIC Field Note

California WIC Management Information System Interface for Eligibility Documentation

By California WIC Program

California WIC’s management information system, WIC WISE, has an online interface with the California Department of Health Care Services Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System (MEDS) database that contains eligibility/recipient information on Medi-Cal (Medicaid), CalFresh (SNAP), and CalWORKs (TANF) participation. California WIC local agency staff can check for participation in those programs during certification appointments or when conducting eligibility screening for applicants prior to scheduling an appointment. To check for participation in any of the programs, staff enter the Social Security number, the Medi-Cal number, or the Client Identification Number provided by the individual applying for WIC services into WIC WISE. If a match is found in the MEDS system, the interface will return the status of the WIC applicant’s participation in Medi-Cal, TANF, and SNAP, and WIC WISE will automatically determine if the applicant is adjunctively eligible.
Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWORKs require proof of California residency and a valid ID to qualify for program participation.  Because the proofs have already been verified by these programs, California WIC allows Adjunctive eligibility via MEDS to be used as proof of residence and identification in addition to income.

For more information, contact kari.sachs@cdph.ca.gov.

Date Added
June 14, 2021