Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
Frequently Asked Questions about WIC
Who is eligible?
Pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a State residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at "nutritional risk" by a health professional.
To be eligible on the basis of income, applicants' gross income (i.e. before taxes are withheld) must fall at or below 185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines.
What do I need to bring to my appointment?
For your first appointment to apply, bring
yourself and anyone if your family applying for WIC
ID for each person
Proof of all income for your household
Proof of residency
Shot record for your children
For questions about what qualifies for each item, please call our offices at 330-394-0990 in Warren or 330-539-1010 in Girard.
What is "nutritional risk"?
Two major types of nutritional risk are recognized for WIC eligibility:
Beginning April 1, 1999, State agencies use WIC nutrition risk criteria from a list established for use in the WIC Program. WIC nutrition risk criteria were developed by FNS in conjunction with State and local WIC agency experts. WIC State agencies are not required to use all of the nutritional risk criteria on the new list. FNS will update the list of criteria, as necessary, when new scientific evidence shows, after review by FNS and other health and nutrition experts, that the condition can be improved by providing WIC program benefits and services.
How many people does WIC serve?
During Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the number of women, infants, and children receiving WIC benefits each month reached approximately 9.17 million. For the first 8 months of FY 2011, States reported average monthly participation just below 9 million participants per month. In 1974, the first year WIC was permanently authorized, 88,000 people participated. By 1980, participation was at 1.9 million; by 1985, 3.1 million; by 1990, 4.5 million; and by 2000, 7.2 million. Average monthly participation for FY 2008 was approximately 8.7 million.
Children have always been the largest category of WIC participants. Of the 9.17 million people who received WIC benefits each month in FY 2010, approximately 4.86 million were children, 2.17 million were infants, and 2.14 million were women.
What food benefits do WIC participants receive?
In most WIC State agencies, WIC participants receive checks or vouchers to purchase specific foods each month that are designed to supplement their diets with specific nutrients that benefit WIC’s target population. In addition, some States issue an electronic benefit card to participants instead of paper checks or vouchers. The use of electronic cards is growing and all WIC State agencies are required to implement WIC electronic benefit transfer (EBT) statewide by October 1, 2020. A few State agencies distribute the WIC foods through warehouses or deliver the foods to participants’ homes. Different food packages are provided for different categories of participants.
WIC foods include infant cereal, iron-fortified adult cereal, vitamin C-rich fruit or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, dried and canned beans/peas, and canned fish. Soy-based beverages, tofu, fruits and vegetables, baby foods, whole-wheat bread, and other whole-grain options were recently added to better meet the nutritional needs of WIC participants.
WIC recognizes and promotes breastfeeding as the optimal source of nutrition for infants. For women who do not fully breastfeed, WIC provides iron-fortified infant formula. Special infant formulas and medical foods may be provided when prescribed by a physician for a specified medical condition.
Who gets first priority for participation?
If WIC cannot serve all the eligible people who apply for benefits, so a system of priorities has been established for filling program openings. Once a local WIC agency has reached its maximum caseload, vacancies are generally filled in the order of the following priority levels:
Frequently Asked Questions about WIC
Who is eligible?
Pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a State residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at "nutritional risk" by a health professional.
To be eligible on the basis of income, applicants' gross income (i.e. before taxes are withheld) must fall at or below 185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines.
What do I need to bring to my appointment?
For your first appointment to apply, bring
yourself and anyone if your family applying for WIC
ID for each person
Proof of all income for your household
Proof of residency
Shot record for your children
For questions about what qualifies for each item, please call our offices at 330-394-0990 in Warren or 330-539-1010 in Girard.
What is "nutritional risk"?
Two major types of nutritional risk are recognized for WIC eligibility:
- Medically-based risks (designated as "high priority") such as anemia, underweight, maternal age, history of pregnancy complications, or poor pregnancy outcomes.
- Diet-based risks such as inadequate dietary pattern.
Beginning April 1, 1999, State agencies use WIC nutrition risk criteria from a list established for use in the WIC Program. WIC nutrition risk criteria were developed by FNS in conjunction with State and local WIC agency experts. WIC State agencies are not required to use all of the nutritional risk criteria on the new list. FNS will update the list of criteria, as necessary, when new scientific evidence shows, after review by FNS and other health and nutrition experts, that the condition can be improved by providing WIC program benefits and services.
How many people does WIC serve?
During Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the number of women, infants, and children receiving WIC benefits each month reached approximately 9.17 million. For the first 8 months of FY 2011, States reported average monthly participation just below 9 million participants per month. In 1974, the first year WIC was permanently authorized, 88,000 people participated. By 1980, participation was at 1.9 million; by 1985, 3.1 million; by 1990, 4.5 million; and by 2000, 7.2 million. Average monthly participation for FY 2008 was approximately 8.7 million.
Children have always been the largest category of WIC participants. Of the 9.17 million people who received WIC benefits each month in FY 2010, approximately 4.86 million were children, 2.17 million were infants, and 2.14 million were women.
What food benefits do WIC participants receive?
In most WIC State agencies, WIC participants receive checks or vouchers to purchase specific foods each month that are designed to supplement their diets with specific nutrients that benefit WIC’s target population. In addition, some States issue an electronic benefit card to participants instead of paper checks or vouchers. The use of electronic cards is growing and all WIC State agencies are required to implement WIC electronic benefit transfer (EBT) statewide by October 1, 2020. A few State agencies distribute the WIC foods through warehouses or deliver the foods to participants’ homes. Different food packages are provided for different categories of participants.
WIC foods include infant cereal, iron-fortified adult cereal, vitamin C-rich fruit or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, dried and canned beans/peas, and canned fish. Soy-based beverages, tofu, fruits and vegetables, baby foods, whole-wheat bread, and other whole-grain options were recently added to better meet the nutritional needs of WIC participants.
WIC recognizes and promotes breastfeeding as the optimal source of nutrition for infants. For women who do not fully breastfeed, WIC provides iron-fortified infant formula. Special infant formulas and medical foods may be provided when prescribed by a physician for a specified medical condition.
Who gets first priority for participation?
If WIC cannot serve all the eligible people who apply for benefits, so a system of priorities has been established for filling program openings. Once a local WIC agency has reached its maximum caseload, vacancies are generally filled in the order of the following priority levels:
- Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and infants determined to be at nutritional risk because of serious medical problems.
- Infants up to 6 months of age whose mothers participated in WIC or could have participated and had serious medical problems.
- Children (up to age 5) at nutritional risk because of serious medical problems.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women and infants at nutritional risk because of dietary problems (like poor diet).
- Children (up to age 5) at nutritional risk because of dietary problems.
- Non-breastfeeding, postpartum women with any nutritional risk.
- Individuals at nutritional risk only because they are homeless or migrants, and current participants who without WIC foods could continue to have medical and/or dietary problems.