Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/BarbaraECohen

This report studies the effects of the growth of the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) as a result of infant formula rebates, new regulatory and legislative requirements, and economic factors that have been instituted since 1988. Mail surveys were used to collect data from all state agencies (91 percent of state agencies responding) and a national sample of local agencies. Case studies were performed at 22 local agencies. The report describes certain components of WIC service delivery, effects of rapid growth and other factors on local agencies, and local agencies' responses to those factors.

This report reviews the history of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, defines the meaning of the term "full-funding" as it relates to this program, presents evidence concerning the effectiveness of WIC, describes who participates in WIC and who is eligible to participate, and provides estimates of those eligible for WIC. Also discussed are federal policy issues concerning full funding, implementation issues for state and local WIC programs, and health reform and opportunities for children. An appendix provides average monthly participation and costs for state WIC programs in 1993 and estimates of WIC income-eligible populations in 1992.

Drawing on a nationally representative sample of interviews with homeless people who use services and with service providers in several large cities, the authors explore the efforts of various states and localities to provide emergency services to homeless people, to help them get out of homelessness, and to prevent homelessness. They find that services and programs to help people work their way out of homelessness are not well developed and that the level of interest in finding solutions and the levels of funding to create these solutions vary greatly from state to state.

Return to list of authors