AR243

An Assembly Resolution urging the federal government to modernize access to WIC.

Whereas, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) began operating the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a federal assistance program for healthcare and nutrition of low-income pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and children under the age of five, through state agencies in 1974; and

Whereas, The WIC program is currently the largest federal nutrition program after the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the National School Lunch Program; and

Whereas, New Jersey WIC is a preventive public health nutrition program which utilizes various strategies to reduce the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes and to facilitate the improvement of the nutritional and health status of low-income pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children; and

Whereas, To accomplish this goal, the program identifies and provides services that prevent nutritional and health problems, such as health screenings and nutritional counseling; and

Whereas, On average, the New Jersey WIC program serves over 130,000 total participants each year; and

Whereas, There is strong evidence that the program reduces the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality, particularly for the African American community ; and

Whereas, Mothers qualify for WIC during pregnancy and for up to a year after, and children qualify until age five, with eligibility based on enrollment in other federal programs such as SNAP and Medicaid or by income and nutritional risk criteria; and

Whereas, Despite the demonstrated nutritional and health benefits of the program, participation has been steadily declining over the past decade; and

Whereas, While there is no clear explanation for the decline, advocates and WIC administrators point to several contributing factors such as misconceptions about the program’s eligibility and the high-contact nature of enrollment and certification; and

Whereas, In order to provide state agencies the flexibility to continue the WIC program during the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA issued waivers that allowed for social distancing in the WIC program through remote certification and benefit issuance; and

Whereas, If these waivers were to continue post-pandemic and access to the program was further modernized, there might be more opportunities to offer more flexible ways to enroll and expand access to eligible populations; and

Whereas, The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted extreme economic hardship on many individuals in this State, who might now become eligible for the WIC program, it is proper and fitting that this House urges the federal government to modernize access to the WIC and promote flexible methods for program enrollment and benefit issuance; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This House respectfully urges the federal government to continue to modernize access to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children allowing for more flexible methods of program enrollment and benefit issuance.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Agriculture.

STATEMENT

This Assembly resolution respectfully urges the federal government to continue to modernize access to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC, to allow for more flexible methods of program enrollment and benefit issuance.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) began operating WIC, a federal assistance program for healthcare and nutrition of low-income pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and children under the age of five, through state agencies in 1974. The WIC program is currently the largest federal nutrition program after the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the National School Lunch Program. New Jersey WIC is a preventive public health nutrition program which utilizes various strategies to reduce the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes and to facilitate the improvement of the nutritional and health status of low-income pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children. To accomplish this goal, the program identifies and provides services that prevent nutritional and health problems, such as health screenings and nutritional counseling. On average, the New Jersey WIC program serves over 130,000 total participants each year.

There is strong evidence that the program reduces the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality, particularly among the African American community. Mothers qualify for WIC during pregnancy and for up to a year after, and children qualify until age five, with eligibility based on enrollment in other federal programs such as SNAP and Medicaid or by income and nutritional risk criteria. Despite the demonstrated nutritional and health benefits of the program, participation has been steadily declining over the past decade. While there is no clear explanation for the decline, advocates and WIC administrators point to several contributing factors such as misconceptions about the program’s eligibility and the high-contact nature of enrollment and certification. In order to provide state agencies the flexibility to continue the WIC program during the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA issued waivers that allowed for social distancing through remote certification and benefit issuance. If these waivers were to continue post-pandemic and access to the program was further modernized, there might be more opportunities to offer more flexible ways to enroll and expand access to eligible populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted extreme economic hardship on many individuals in this State, who might now become eligible for the WIC program. It is proper and fitting that this House urges the federal government to modernize access to WIC and promote flexible methods for program enrollment and benefit issuance.