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WIC Program
10.557
To provide income-eligible pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five who are determined to be at nutritional risk with supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, and referrals to health and social services at no cost. WIC also promotes and supports breastfeeding as the feeding method of choice for infants, provides substance abuse education and promotes immunization and other aspects of healthy living. For Formula Grants, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) makes funds available to participating State health agencies and Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) that, in turn, distribute the funds to participating local agencies. State and local agencies use WIC funds to pay the costs of specified supplemental foods provided to WIC participants, and to pay for specified nutrition services and administration (NSA) costs, including the cost of nutrition assessments, blood tests for anemia, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and support, and health care referrals. For Project Grants, FNS makes funding available to carry out WIC outreach, innovation, and program modernization efforts to increase participation and redemption of benefits. Projects may focus on reducing disparities in program delivery, improving WIC service delivery, improving the WIC shopping experience, and increasing awareness of the Program’s benefits and services.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
For more information on each of these data sources, please see the
About the data page.
No Project Grants were issued in FY 2017.
In FY 2019, a monthly average of 1,515,587 pregnant, post-partum and breastfeeding low-income women, 1,610,391 infants, and 3,274,202 children who were determined to be at nutritional risk received supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, and referrals to health and social services at no cost.
In FY 2020, a monthly average of 1,446,146 pregnant, post-partum and breastfeeding low-income women, 1,551,034 infants, and 3,250,234 children who were determined to be at nutritional risk received supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health and social services at no cost.
The Families First Coronavirus Act provided funding in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. FNS made these funds available to all 89 WIC State agencies to pay for supplemental foods and nutrition services and administration costs in accordance with legislative and regulatory requirements.
In FY 2021, a monthly average of 1,379,161 pregnant, post-partum and breastfeeding low-income women, 1,464,732 infants, and 3,400,098 children who were determined to be at nutritional risk received supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health and social services at no cost. The Families First Coronavirus Act (FFCRA) provided funding in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. FNS made these funds available to all 89 WIC State agencies to pay for supplemental foods and nutrition services and administration costs in accordance with legislative and regulatory requirements. In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) authorized FNS to temporarily increase the cash-value benefit for fruit and vegetable purchases for participants receiving certain food packages to an amount less than or equal to $35 per month. Funds were allocated to 87 of 89 WIC State agencies. WIC Online Ordering Grant (cooperative agreement) - 4 WIC Online Ordering sub-grant projects were funded in FY 2021 ranging from $267,703 to $932,280.
In FY 2022, a monthly average of 1,400,390 pregnant, post-partum and breastfeeding low-income women, 1,428,837 infants, and 3,430,916 children who were determined to be at nutritional risk received supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health and social services at no cost.
The annual appropriations bill authorized and provided funding to FNS to extend the temporary increase in the WIC Cash-Value Benefit (CVB) for women and children for fruit and vegetable purchases through the end of FY 2022. Funds were allocated to all 89 WIC State agencies to provide the NASEM (inflated) recommended monthly CVV/B amounts of $24 for child participants, $43 for pregnant and postpartum women participants, and $47 for fully and partially breastfeeding women participants.
WIC Online Ordering Grant (cooperative agreement): WIC Online Ordering grant funds are provided to the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition (GSCN) to work with 4 sub-grantees (8 WIC State agencies total), and their partners, to test, implement, and evaluate online ordering and transaction projects.
WIC Innovation Grants: The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 included funds to carry out outreach, innovation, and program modernization, including appropriate waivers and flexibility, to increase participation and redemption of benefits. The Food and Nutrition Service will improve health equity by positioning WIC as a critical component of maternal and child health care services by supporting projects that focus on the following goals: (1) Connect more eligible people to WIC; (2) Modernize the participant experience by leveraging technology solutions; and (3) Streamline benefit delivery and services. In FY 2022, the following grant announcement were released and awarded before the end of the fiscal year:
• Community Innovation and Outreach (CIAO): FNS entered into a cooperative agreement with the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) a grant to test the effectiveness of community outreach strategies in increasing WIC participation, especially among underserved populations within a community. A total of 36 subgrantee projects were awarded.
• WIC Shopping Experience Improvement Grant: In FY 2022, FNS funded over $10 million in non-competitive grants to 21 WIC State agencies to complete projects aimed at improving the WIC shopping experience. The primary goal of funded projects is to improve the in-store shopping experience, as evidenced by increasing the redemption of WIC benefits, improving customer satisfaction, and/or improving participant access to vendors, including for underserved communities and individuals.
• WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program Benefit Delivery Modernization Grant: The primary goal of the grant opportunity was to provide funding to WIC FMNP State agencies, including Indian Tribal Organizations (ITO) and territories, to implement an available and tested electronic, mobile WIC FMNP Solution (Solution), which will (1) modernize benefit delivery for WIC FMNP State agencies, participants, farmers and farmers’ markets; and (2) increase benefit utilization at farmers’ markets. The BDM grant opportunity was open throughout FY 2022 with a total three (3) rounds of funding. In FY 2022, over $1.9 million was awarded to 11 State agencies.
• Technology for a Better WIC Experience: Communications, Data, and Metrics Grant: FNS funded non-competitive grants to WIC State agencies for planning and implementation efforts around improving the WIC participant experience through the use of key technology enhancements. Projects aimed to improve the WIC participant experience, as evidenced by increasing participant enrollment and retention while improving equity. In FY 2022, FNS awarded over $23 million in awards to 66 State agencies.
The annual appropriations bill authorized and provided funding to FNS to extend the temporary increase in the WIC Cash-Value Benefit (CVB) for women and children for fruit and vegetable purchases through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2024. Funds were allocated to all 89 WIC State agencies to provide the NASEM (inflated) recommended monthly CVB amounts of $26 for child participants, $47 for pregnant and postpartum women participants, and $52 for fully and partially breastfeeding women participants. In FY 2024, FNS published the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Revisions in the WIC Food Packages rule, which codified the NASEM recommended CVB amounts for child, pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum participants.
WIC Modernization Grants: FNS continues to support WIC State agencies that were awarded non-competitive grants in FY 2023. In FY 2024 WIC Modernization Grants FNS supports planning and implementation projects focused on enhancements that improve the WIC participant experience, as evidenced by enhancing the WIC shopping experience, increasing participant enrollment, reducing unnecessary administrative burden for both participants and administrators, including through data matching to streamline enrollment, and retaining eligible participants while improving equity.
WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program eSolution Grants: In FY 2024, FNS awarded over $1.6 million in non-competitive grants to 5 State agencies. The eSolution grants are for projects aimed at modernizing benefit delivery via procurement of web-based mobile benefit delivery software.
WIC Offline to Online EBT Grants: As part of FNS’s modernization efforts, in FY 2024 FNS provided an additional $235,434 to support the offline EBT to online EBT for WIC State agencies. The grant funding supports major modifications to State agency Management Information Systems (MIS) to support the ability to process online benefits.
WIC Online Shopping Grant: In FY 2024, the Center for Nutrition and Health Impact (CNHI) awarded 5 WIC State agencies with funds to support WIC modernization efforts started under the FY 2020 WIC Online Ordering Grant for the expansion of online shopping in WIC nationwide.
Substance Use Education Grant: In FY 2024, FNS awarded a cooperative agreement to support the development of trainings and resources to assist State and local agency WIC staff when addressing substance use prevention and referrals with WIC participants.
Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
