National WIC Association: We cannot waste another moment playing politics with the health and wellbeing of the nearly 6.8 million pregnant and postpartum women and children who rely on our healthy food benefits, breastfeeding support and nutrition education.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the National WIC Association (NWA) submitted a letter on behalf of a broad coalition of stakeholders calling for full fiscal year 2024 (FY24) funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The letter is signed by over 600 partner organizations from all 50 states, plus DC and Puerto Rico, and lays out the impact on program service delivery if full funding is not provided. With expected caseloads projected to continue growing in FY24, the consequence of shortchanging WIC will have a ripple effect on program access and enrollment.
Read the letter in full here.
The following statement is attributed to Kate Franken, Board Chair of the National WIC Association:
“The impending risk to the program is real, but there is still time to act. We cannot waste another moment playing politics with the health and wellbeing of the nearly 6.8 million pregnant and postpartum women and children who rely on our healthy food benefits, breastfeeding support and nutrition education. No one who needs WIC should be turned away, ever. Congress must fully fund WIC to avoid any service delivery disruptions and refrain from implementing waitlists for the first time in 30 years. Anything less is indefensible.”
###