Estimating Eligibility and Participation for the WIC Program

This report reviews the methods used to estimate the national number of people eligible to participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) under full funding of the program. It reviews alternative data sets and methods for estimating income eligibility, adjunctive eligibility (which occurs when people are eligible for WIC because they are enrolled in other federal public assistance programs) and nutritional risk, as well as for estimating participation if the program is fully funded.


Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
2. Overview of WIC and the Current Estimation Methodology
3. Accuracy and Sources of Errors
4. Categorical Eligibility of Infants and Children
5. Income and Adjunctive Eligibility of Infants and Children
6. Estimation of the Number of Income-Eligible Pregnant and
Postpartum Women
7. Estimating Eligibility Based on Meeting Nutritional Risk
Criteria
8. Estimating WIC Participation Among Eligible People
9. Options for Estimating Eligibility and Participation
10. Summary
References
Appendix A: Data Sources and Coverage Issues
Appendix B: Nutritional Screening and Budget Estimates
Appendix C: Reconciling Different Estimates of Income and
Adjunctive Eligibility
Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff