The WIC NSA Cost Study will provide an updated assessment of the amounts and categories of costs charged to WIC NSA grants and the variation of these costs among State and local agencies. This study will conduct a census of State and local agencies and include 14 case studies to gain a more detailed assessment of NSA cost categories compared to other similar federal programs such as SNAP and TANF.
This biennial census provides detailed information on the demographic characteristics, economic circumstances and health conditions of WIC clients, along with information on the operational characteristics of State and local WIC agencies. The data are used for policy development, budget projections and regulatory impact analyses. Information about WIC participation characteristics has been prepared biennially since 1992 from administrative records provided by State agencies.
In 2011, FNS published a report on the choices each WIC State agency had made in 2009 in exercising the flexibilities allowed under the new WIC food packages. Since this early implementation, the WIC food package final rule has been published and States have made numerous adjustments to their policy choices. This study will update the previous study with an examination of which foods States offer in their food packages after 5 years of experience with the new food packages.
This study updates a 2010 survey of WIC State Agencies’ Peer Counseling Practices for three reasons: 1) funding for the Loving Support Peer Counseling Program increased from $15 million in FY 2008 to $80 million in FY 2010
and subsequently declined to $60 million in FY 2014, 2) FNS made changes
in the WIC food packages, in part to promote breastfeeding among WIC participants, and 3) there has been an evolution of best practices to support breastfeeding which have been adapted by many State and local WIC agencies more generally as well as specifically for Loving Support Peer Counseling. In the spring of 2014, a web-based survey was administered to the 50 State WIC agencies and the District of Columbia to gather information about how State agencies used the Loving Support Peer Counseling funding and supported the implementation of the program.
The WIC Breastfeeding Policy Inventory (WIC BPI) collected data on breastfeeding policies and practices, as well as the breastfeeding measures in use by State Agencies (SAs) and Local Agencies (LAs). The WIC BPI was a census of the 90 WIC State agencies (including Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) and U.S. Territories) and the approximately 1,800 local WIC agencies.
This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2014 national and State estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percent of the eligible population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category. The report also provides estimates by region, State, U.S. territory, and race and ethnicity, as well as updated estimates for years 2005–2013.
NWA contracted with Altarum’s Center for Food and Nutrition to conduct an evaluation of Cohorts 1 and 2 to understand the CPHMC project experience and factors that facilitated or hindered […]
Ver Ploeg et al. (2015) examined the types of stores households usually frequent for food shopping, how they get there, and how far they travel. The study showed that about 90 percent of all households shop at large stores such as supermarkets and supercenters, and this percentage does not vary much by participation in SNAP or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), or by income or by mode of travel to the store.
Recent data shows that the retail price markup of the firm that wins the state WIC contract does not change when the contract is awarded, but that its shelf space increases in excess of the share of WIC customers.
Across the 46 WIC State agencies, real net price decreased by an average 43 percent (or 23 cents per 26 ounces of reconstituted fluid), allaying concerns about increasing real net prices. With lower net prices, combined with declining WIC purchases of infant formula, WIC State agencies paid $107 million less for formula in their new contracts over the course of a year.
