Communtiy Action and the Wic Program
Program I
Community Action & the WIC Program
Community Action Agencies are local private and public non-profit organizations. These agencies carry out the Community Action Program (CAP). CAP was founded by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act to fight poverty by empowering the poor as part of the War on Poverty. The Community Action Program of Washington-Morgan Counties, often referred to as Washington-Morgan Community Action, has a long and rich history of helping low income individuals and families achieve growth and success.
After WMCAP incorporated in September of 1967, founding executive director, Anthony Mele, obtained funding for the first family planning program in the State of Ohio. The program offered a family service center and outreach program, as well as a full year Head Start program. In 1973, The Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program or WIC, provided through Community Action, became the first WIC program in the state of Ohio and the second in the United States.
WIC provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, and referrals to health and other social services to participants at no charge. Pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a State residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at “nutrition risk” by a health professional. To be eligible on the basis of income, applicants’ income must fall at or below 185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines (currently $41,348 for a family of four). These strict eligibility guidelines have been to blame for enrollment in WIC programs being down nationwide. WIC is not an entitlement program. Instead, WIC is a Federal grant program for which Congress authorizes a specific amount of funding each year for program operations. The Food and Nutrition Service, which administers the program at the Federal level, provides these funds to WIC State agencies (State health departments
Community Action & the WIC Program
Community Action Agencies are local private and public non-profit organizations. These agencies carry out the Community Action Program (CAP). CAP was founded by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act to fight poverty by empowering the poor as part of the War on Poverty. The Community Action Program of Washington-Morgan Counties, often referred to as Washington-Morgan Community Action, has a long and rich history of helping low income individuals and families achieve growth and success.
After WMCAP incorporated in September of 1967, founding executive director, Anthony Mele, obtained funding for the first family planning program in the State of Ohio. The program offered a family service center and outreach program, as well as a full year Head Start program. In 1973, The Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program or WIC, provided through Community Action, became the first WIC program in the state of Ohio and the second in the United States.
WIC provides nutritious foods, nutrition education, and referrals to health and other social services to participants at no charge. Pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a State residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at “nutrition risk” by a health professional. To be eligible on the basis of income, applicants’ income must fall at or below 185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines (currently $41,348 for a family of four). These strict eligibility guidelines have been to blame for enrollment in WIC programs being down nationwide. WIC is not an entitlement program. Instead, WIC is a Federal grant program for which Congress authorizes a specific amount of funding each year for program operations. The Food and Nutrition Service, which administers the program at the Federal level, provides these funds to WIC State agencies (State health departments
Cited: www.wmcap.org USDA,Food and Nutrition Service. (2011, October 07). Program Data. Retrieved from http://www.fns.usda.gov