For more information
To see if you qualify for WIC or to review the list of foods covered by the program, visit Boulder County’s English and Spanish language website, www.BoulderCountyWIC.org.
Until recently, Nicole Gutierrez braced herself for how some customers behind her in line at the grocery store would sigh and roll their eyes whenever she pulled a stack of government-issued vouchers from her purse.
To them, the paperwork signaled a long wait.
Low-income mothers enrolled in The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — called WIC for short — once fumbled to pay that way for groceries they needed to separate from groceries paid for out of pocket in a separate transaction.
Cashiers cross-checked the eligibility of those items from the list WIC printed and then manually double-checked that the WIC client’s food benefit allotted that month had not already been spent.
Finally, the cashier could ring up the groceries and send Gutierrez, 32, on her way — often with one or more of her four children, ages 10 to 4, in tow.
“On the old system, the wait could be three times as long. And when I pulled out those WIC checks, it did seem like all the people behind me in line were like, ‘Oh, great,'” she said, while shopping with her daughter Tulip, 4, in early February at the South Hover Street King Soopers in Longmont close to her home.
No more.
The federal food supplement program established in 1974 after doctors in the late 1960s reported to Congress about malnutrition-related maladies in young mothers and their children just got a facelift.
“This is not your mother’s WIC,” Melinda Morris, Boulder County Public Health’s WIC program manager, said. “Before, WIC was not very flexible. It hadn’t changed with the times. Now, it’s being updated to meet the needs of today’s eligible families.”
In November, WIC began phasing out the paper checks, which were officially discontinued in January, and replacing them with a plastic eWIC card.
This card streamlines checkout in two key ways, Morris said. WIC clients no longer need to separate groceries on the conveyer belt. Furthermore, the store’s computer system automatically identifies products covered by the food benefit and upon checkout prints a receipt that at the bottom lists what WIC food benefits remain that month.
This eliminates all the paper shuffling at the register for the customer and the cashier, Kelli McGannon, a King Soopers spokeswoman, said.
That saves time and shields women on WIC from any stigma related to using the benefit designed to give low-income mothers and their children better access to nutritious foods; information related to nutrition and breastfeeding; and referrals to other health and nutrition services, Morris said.
New program features
What’s more, the eWIC card allows WIC staff to respond to glitches in real time online.
One WIC client recently called on her cell phone from a local grocery store when her new eWIC card would not work to buy a special supplement for her child.
“It was a clerical error that a WIC staffer could correct online, which saved the client a trip,” Morris said.
The advent of the eWIC card also signals a rollout of new program features prioritized by WIC enrolled and WIC eligible women surveyed and polled in focus groups nationwide, according to the WIC website.
For instance, instead of requiring the traditional quarterly in-person visits to a local WIC office for staff to weigh and measure children and consult with mothers, eWIC card holders need only show up twice a year.
Morris said online education, along with scheduled bilingual phone and video visits, help busy women stay in touch by overcoming challenges around visiting a WIC office during business hours.
By May, WIC plans to unveil a food list expanded to include yogurt and more whole grain food options, she added.
Finally, an upcoming mobile app for WIC clients will help them shop smarter by putting cost comparison information and electronic coupons in their palm.
“WIC now meets the needs of the most on-the-go, tech savvy person,” Morris said. “But the person who wants to come in and talk with staff more regularly can still do that at our offices in Longmont, Boulder and Lafayette.”
To reach out to families unaware of the WIC program or that they may qualify for this benefit, Boulder County Public Health partnered recently with Salud Family Health Centers. Beginning in March, WIC staff plans on scheduling consultations and sharing enrollment information from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first three Thursdays of every month from the front desk of Salud’s Longmont branch, Morris said.
WIC plans on co-officing with Clinica Family Health Services when in 2018 it relocates from its current location in Lafayette at 20000 W. South Boulder Road to a new facility at 1735 South Public Road.
“So many of our families are working. For many of them, combining a well child visit with a WIC visit could make the difference in whether or not they enroll in the program,” Morris said.
Food on the table
Statistics show the necessity of this outreach.
The most recent data related to Boulder County’s WIC program reveal that 61 percent of eligible pregnant women, 91 percent of eligible infants, and 49 percent of eligible children, birth until age 5, currently use the benefit.
These figures place Boulder County’s WIC participation roughly in the middle of participation amongst eligible families living in Colorado’s 63 other counties, she added.
“As a comparison, 80 percent of eligible pregnant women in Pueblo County have enrolled in WIC,” she said. “… Our working families need to know that many times they will qualify for WIC. The program serves those who are nearly two times the income level of the federal poverty level. That means a family of four can gross up to $3,747 monthly and qualify for WIC. A single, pregnant mother can gross up to $2,470 monthly and qualify for WIC.”
Though food benefits vary, in general the eligibility requirements updated annually through June 30, 2017, award a $75 monthly food allowance to pregnant women, a $85 monthly food allowance to breastfeeding mothers, and a $60 monthly food allowance for children until age 5.
Infant food allowances vary depending on whether they breastfeed or need formula and if they have any special nutritional needs, she noted.
Gutierrez just finished earning a college degree online while her husband continued working as a groundskeeper for a Longmont apartment complex.
For them, using a WIC supplement has made a real difference in putting food on their table, she said.
“It buys milk, eggs, and toast. So I know that breakfast is definitely covered,” Gutierrez said. “I have four kids. It’s helpful.”
Pam Mellskog can be reached at p.mellskog@gmail.com or at 303-746-0942.
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