Produce Marketplace is a small market located on St. Clair Street in Clairton's business district, and it's exactly what it sounds like. On a recent Saturday, the table was full of fruits and vegetables, piled high with different varieties of apples, oranges, bananas, pears, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and fresh kale. Shoppers can also purchase deli meats, cheeses, dairy products and other groceries.
But there's one thing shoppers here can't do. That means she can't buy groceries through her WIC program, a federally funded nutrition program for low-income mothers and their children.
Officials with the Mon Valley Initiative, a nonprofit organization that operates the store, say they would like to participate in WIC, but program rules prevent them from doing so because the store doesn't have enough business hours.
“We are happy to accept the benefits of WIC because it fits perfectly with our mission statement,” said store manager Felix Fusco.
“We have received many requests. [for the program]” Fusco said. “It's going down now, because we've had him here for five years telling people, 'No, you can't do WIC.'”
At the intersection of health, nutrition, and child development, the federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (commonly referred to as WIC) provides nutritious foods to pregnant women and young children. The purpose is that.
“It really comes at a really important time in a child's life. And it's a time that they really can't get back. You can't rewind and say, 'Oh, I missed that time,'” Pittsburgh said. said Cristina Codario, policy director for Arise for Children, a nonprofit organization based in .
However, recipients' inability to access the program in stores like Clairton's Produce Marketplace means that WIC is unable to reach its full potential due to onerous rules, cumbersome paperwork, and frequent reservation requirements for retailers. Some supporters say this is just one example of a situation where there is. To the mothers who will be participating. Advocates have long warned of declining participation, with declining enrollment leading to less funding for programs, which in turn means less funding, fewer outreach efforts and fewer staff. It points out that there is a possibility of a downward spiral as families may have to wait longer.
WIC participation has been declining nationally, statewide, and locally, but has begun to rise again in recent years. State and local health officials who administer WIC say they are working to increase the number of families eligible for the program, evidence that years of declining enrollment have turned around and are on the rise. It lists recent numbers.
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Locally, Allegheny County's WIC program began offering some telehealth appointments in April to make it easier for participants who struggle with transportation or whose work schedules make it difficult to visit. intend to do something. This means that the recipient does not have to make a specific in-person visit. Lisa Matt, her WIC program manager at the Allegheny County Health Department, said they are required to attend in-person appointments.
The county also opened two new clinics. Last year, one session was held at UPMC McGee Women's Hospital and one at the pediatric clinic to make it easier for parents to register.
The department will soon be introducing a mobile WIC van to make it easier to reach more people in the community, Matt said. The agency also said it is working on a strategy to help small retailers with some of the upfront costs of participating in the program, such as specific point-of-sale equipment needed by stores.
In Allegheny County, WIC enrollment is approximately 9,900 people, a number that has increased over the past few months but is still significantly lower than pre-pandemic enrollment of 13,000.
Matt said he hopes the recent new hires will help by making it easier for people to schedule appointments.
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One continuing challenge: Pennsylvania's “offline” system still requires benefits to be physically loaded onto the card every three months. This means those enrolled in the program must visit a WIC office in person, use a drop box, and have their card mailed and returned.
Some supporters say this could discourage participation.
“It's not like you have to fill out a form once a year. It's a process where you have to do something every three months,” said Anne Sanders, a public policy advocate with the anti-hunger group Just Harvest. .
State officials said the system will be modernized by 2026, by which time it will be possible to issue benefits remotely.
Nationally, WIC participation has been on the decline for some time, but that trend began to reverse in 2022 and 2023. This is likely due to pandemic-era changes that allow for remote reservations and more generous federal benefits. Katie Berg, a WIC expert at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said people will be buying more fruits and vegetables.
“The reasons why people choose to participate or not participate in WIC are complex,” Berg said, noting that the program has historically had lower participation numbers and more It was pointed out that an in-person appointment was required. “We are very encouraged by the fact that the trend of declining participation has rapidly reversed, and now more and more eligible families are connected to WIC and are taking advantage of the great benefits that the WIC program offers. It’s like I’m experiencing it all and receiving it,” she said.
The number of WIC participants statewide is approximately 179,000. That's an increase of about 24,000 people over the past two years, but it's still well below the roughly 250,000 people who attended his WIC in Pennsylvania a decade ago.
Sally Zubair Coffield, who directs the state's WIC program, said that while some factors are beyond the state's control, such as birth rates, food costs and inflation, “overall, our program is moving in the right direction. “We are progressing towards this,” he said.
She said her agency is working hard to improve the program's functionality and make it more flexible. Last year, WIC shoppers in Pennsylvania became able to take advantage of self-checkout at Walmart stores for the first time. “It's a huge deal for us,” Zubair-Coffield said, and she said it's an example of the kind of change her agency is working on. make.
For more information about applying for WIC in Pennsylvania, please see below. https://www.pawic.com/OnlineApplication.aspx
