[IowaGirl515]

What is WIC? We had our final MAPP class tonight and everyone just nodded their heads when WIC was mentioned and here I am clueless as usual!

We were told that children under 6 get it, and I know it's a government program, but what the heck is it??

[DianeScraps]

I belive WIC stands for Women Infants Children, I know my parents got it when we were kids. It gave us 'checks' for the grocery store that bought certain items like Cheese, yogurt, cereal, etc.

I remember my mom having to go to the WIC office perodically to check in.

Hopefully someone will have some more details - but that's the bascis

diane

[mommyto9]

WIC, does stand for Women, Infants, Children. It is government funded for low income families to help pregnant, nursing mothers and children under the age of 5 stay healthy. All foster children qualify. You get vouchers that help you get formula baby cereal, and juice for infants. Milk, eggs, cereal, cheese, peanut butter, beans etc. for older children. It's a huge help on the formula. 5 of the 12.8 oz cans are about 70.00. You can only puchase certain brands and sizes with these vouchers. Such as juice, only juicy juicy, no kool aid. Cereals only healthy ones (which we prefer anyway) not the sugar laden ones. WIC weigh the children, check their iron and educate you on health. It's worth it for the extra food items. Especially when milk is almost 3.00 a gallon. Hope this info. helps.

[IowaGirl515]

Originally Posted by mommyto9

WIC, does stand for Women, Infants, Children. It is government funded for low income families to help pregnant, nursing mothers and children under the age of 5 stay healthy. All foster children qualify. You get vouchers that help you get formula baby cereal, and juice for infants. Milk, eggs, cereal, cheese, peanut butter, beans etc. for older children. It's a huge help on the formula. 5 of the 12.8 oz cans are about 70.00. You can only puchase certain brands and sizes with these vouchers. Such as juice, only juicy juicy, no kool aid. Cereals only healthy ones (which we prefer anyway) not the sugar laden ones. WIC weigh the children, check their iron and educate you on health. It's worth it for the extra food items. Especially when milk is almost 3.00 a gallon. Hope this info. helps.

Very helpful!! I kinda had a general hunch.. but wasn't 100%. Thanks again!!

[leaabc123]

You got most of the basics. It is a huge help if you have to have formula for infants.
Usually, you call your local WIC office (they probably gave you the number) and tell them you are a foster parent with a new placement. They will look the child's name up in the computer to see if they are receiving WIC already. Here, they also ask for a letter from the social worker stating that the child is placed with you.

If the child was receiving WIC already, they will ask if you have the leftover checks. If there are checks left out there somewhere, then the social worker will have to track them down or try and get an exception for you.

If not, then you bring the kids in for an initial appointment and they give you all the info. Usually, they will give you papers for the doctor to fill out before the next appointment. Usually, they give you checks for 3 months. The checks are dated for when they can be used.
Some folks think it is a pain in the butt and if I was a working mom, I probably wouldn't bother for the older kids. But, since we are a one income family, it is worth it.

[Kate1129]

I sure is worth it!!!

Is there anyone out there who has a small child that doesn't get WIC? I heard a rumor that Texas doesn't offer it? Or am I in the dark ages here!!

We get WIC. It helps tons! It doesn't cover everything. We get lots of milk, but it always seems like the end of the month comes and I have to buy 3 more gallons of milk.

[mallory4]

We just received placement two weeks ago of a toddler for foster/adopt, and no one has mentioned WIC to us at all. We don't really need it (we probably will wish we had it when he is a teen ager, if he is anything like my brothers ) but since a previous poster said all foster kids qualify, and someone else asked if everyone was getting it, I thought I would chime in!

[Withay]

In Oregon only foster children who are age 5 years and under are eligible for WIC.

When you get a new placement you have to either take the child and the placement papers, or just the placement papers to the local WIC office and they will get you set up. If the child is in the system they will verify whether or not the vouchers for that month have been redeemed. If they have, then you 'may' get a partial if the other family did not send any of the items with the child. If not, they will cancel the other vouchers and issue you new ones.

You are required to go to the office to pick the vouchers up every third month and the other months they are mailed to you. The child has to have an appointment every six months for renewal in the program.

We also get 'grocery dollars' during the summer months to be used at our local farmers markets for fresh fruits and vegetables - $20 per child over the age of 6 months (through age 5).

Without WIC I wouldn't be able to afford all the formula used in my home during a month - figure 18 - 27 cans at $13.00 per can ($234.00 - $351.00 ) at the least expensive store. I usually have 2 and sometimes 3 infants at a time.

[yanknrebel]

Dbl L


I HEAR YA!!!! I have a set of twins who were preemies and who had to be on Neosure. Neousre is only given by RX, and runs about $14.00-$15.00 a can. That runs about $230.00 a month. Try that times 2. There is NO WAY we could afford to buy this for our foster twins if we did not receive WIC. WHen the twins came to us they were 5 months old very undernourished, and failure to thrive. They absolutely had to have this formula and it has done wonders (they were 29 week preemies as well ).
We did not hear about WIC form our DCS office. As a matter of fact when I asked them about it, they said they had never heard of a foster parent getting WIC. ANyway, it was a no brainer.

Then when we adopted our foster daughter in Dec. and I had to go back in Feb for recertification for the WIC vouchers, I was not going to reapply for Kayla. The WIC staff questioned why I wouldn't. I explained because she was no longer a foster child. The woman att the front desk asked me if my husband made less than $41,000 during the year, I explained yes. SHe aksed me how many were in the household. I told her 6. SHe told me I definitley qualified (even without looking at anything else). So I made an appointment brought int he dh last check stub and we were qualified and get WIC for my adopted daughter as well. SO we get 12 gallons of milk a month 18 48oz od Juicy Juice each month, 6 dozen eggs,6 16 oz of cheese each month (ANYBODY need any cheese,LOL) 3 18 oz jars of peanut butter, 105 oz of cereal each month. SO it definitely comes in handy. I always thought we made pretty good money UNTIL I went to the WIC office and was told we qualified under the poverty level. HMMM!!! SO check it out.

[stepforone]

Yes we get it in Texas. We stopped messing with it for our toddler fd because she had to get her finger pricked for iron count each time and she didn't like it. But I would definitely do it for babies. The formula gets very costly. My dh didn't want to do it because he didn't think 'we' needed wellfare. Our Dr. talked him into it, told him the children qualify and there is no reason to be too proud to get it for them. I hate turning over the coupons and then getting into a $40,000 van because I figure people will just figure I'm abusing the system! But I recently found out that there is a place in our town that has a drive through service for WIC purchases. It's next door to one of our WIC offices. I think this will help a lot because I was never sure what brands of food qualify for the program.

[Dmommab]

Yes, WIC is wonderful for our son. He started out on Isomil but was switched to Alimentum at 4 months & it is $22 a can!!!! We would have been in trouble without WIC for that. He started out in foster care with us but we've adopted him - he's still on the formula due to lactose intolerance. He won't drink soy milk AT ALL - I guess maybe he doesn't like the taste? It's been a lifesaver for us!

[Rocking Mama]

Hi All,
Here in Iowa, if you qualify for WIC and you no longer wish to get it, you can sign up for the Supplemental Foods Program. I don't know if this is offered in every state, but basically it's government surplus foods.
After my children no longer qualify for formula vouchers, I usually switch to Supplemental Foods because they offer more foods than WIC does. Granted, government surplus is definitely "no frills!", but you get canned meats, cheese, butter, powdered milk, canned fruits and vegetables, dried eggs, spaghetti noodles, macaroni or rice, beans, spaghetti sauce, soups and usually there are day-old bread and baked goods at the "check-out" to grab on your way out.
Our Supplemental Foods Program has printed a cookbook that has healthy recipes using these foods. Of course, the quantity of foods you receive depends on how many kids 6 and under are in your household. This wouldn't be enough to totally replace your regular grocery shopping, but it sure does take a big bite out of your monthly grocery spending! Just a thought! RM

[Kate1129]

Oh I had forgotten about that Supplimental Foods program!!

It is a good program!

[leaabc123]

I have bad memories of the powdered milk being lumpy as a kid, from the supplemental food program.

Anyways, took my girls in (to wic) to have everything switched over to my name and there was one other boy playing in the playroom.

I told D that she could go play, then this little boy came over to her and started pushing and hitting her. I grabbed a toy for her and sat her next to me. She didn't even try to hit him back. We have been working on the no hitting thing at home (although secretly, I wished she would have punched him out but that would not have been good).

His mother, who had another infant with her and appeared to be pregnant again, grabbed him and threatened to hit him. Then he called her the "B" word and ran out the door. She threatened to hit him again on the way out.

All I could think was "hmmm, future placements". I held my tongue because I didn't want to get into it with this lady. Luckily, they left soon after that.

Just had to share that fun experience.

[JBrennan]

It has been interesting reading all the thoughts on WIC. We have it here in Michigan and my Foster Trainer told me all Foster children will qualify here. My Husband and I are awaiting our first placement and have been unsure if we would use WIC even though we legally could. It is not just a pride issue with me. I feel if I really needed it I should use it but if I don't really need it, I would feel guilty for using it. State programs are intended to help those in need. Anyone else struggle with feeling guilty?