WIC: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children

If you enroll, your WIC benefits include:

• A variety of healthy foods including fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, whole grains, cereal, peanut butter, baby foods, and more.
• Personalized nutrition education and health information for before, during and after your pregnancy.
• Personalized breastfeeding and lactation support, and help creating a feeding plan for your child.
• Information and referrals to other health and social services that provide support for families, including education or child care, financial resources, health and safety, substance abuse, and more.
  • BadgerCare Plus is for Wisconsinites age 0–64 who have low-income. Covered services include doctor visits, prescriptions, urgent and emergency care, lab tests, and more.
  • FoodShare, also called food stamps or SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), can help if you have limited money to buy food. The goal of this program is to stop hunger. You can use your FoodShare benefits at most stores. You also can use them at many farmers markets, where you can buy fresh fruits and vegetables most months out of the year.
  • Head Start are federal programs for children under the age of 5 from low-income families. Children and families who participate engage in a variety of educational and health activities. Parents/caregivers are partners in the programs and have a wide array of social services available as needed.
  • Wisconsin Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that helps more than 1 million Wisconsinites get high-quality health care coverage, long-term care, and other services that promote physical and mental health and well-being. There are many types of Medicaid programs. Each has certain requirements you must meet if you want to enroll.
  • Wisconsin Works (W-2) can help you get a job and find a career path to support your family. If you want to build your skills and start or continue a career path, Wisconsin Works provides real work experience and training, access to education, job interview preparation, and job matching. You may also get cash assistance while preparing for work.
  • Wisconsin Wayfinder supports families of children with delays, disabilities, special health care needs, and mental health conditions. Children’s resource guides are helpers who assist families, caregivers, professionals, and organizations in finding a wide array of supports and services available through the Children’s Resource Network.
  • ForwardHealth brings together many Department of Health Services health care and nutritional assistance benefit programs with the goal of improving health outcomes for members and creating efficiencies for providers.
  • The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) can provide a three to five-day emergency food supply at participating food pantries to Wisconsin residents with low incomes.
  • The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) works to improve the health of income eligible persons at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA foods such as fruits and juice, vegetables, cheese, milk, meat, poultry and fish, plant-based proteins, cereals, and pasta, and rice. CSFP is distributed monthly to approved participants through community action agencies, food banks, and other nonprofit organizations.

Studies show that pregnant women using WIC services:

• Eat more of the foods that provide key nutrients (like vitamin A, vitamin C and iron) needed for babies to grow and develop well.
• See doctors earlier during their pregnancies.
• Have more babies delivered full term.
• Have more babies born at a healthy weight.

Studies show that for infants whose mothers used WIC services during their pregnancy:

• Infant mortality is reduced and more babies are born without significant health problems.

Studies show that children who participate in the WIC Program:

• Eat more of the foods that provide key nutrients (like vitamin A, vitamin C and iron).
• Are more likely to grow and develop well during childhood.
• Have better blood iron levels (less iron-deficiency anemia).
• Are more likely to see a doctor regularly for check-ups and to get their shots on time.
• Are better with words and have a better memory for numbers.

Studies also show:

• $1.77 to $3.13 is saved in Medicaid costs for every $1.00 the WIC program spends serving pregnant women.
  Pregnant women using WIC services have fewer babies that weigh too little (less than 5 and 1/2 pounds) when born. It costs an extra $30,000 to $70,000 to help a small baby grow to a normal weight.

More information can be found at About WIC: How WIC Helps.