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 ContentsFront MatterExecutive Summary1. Introduction2. Overview of WIC and the Current Estimation Methodology3. Accuracy and Sources of Errors4. Categorical Eligibility of Infants and Children5. Income and Adjunctive Eligibility of Infants and Children6. Estimation of the Number of Income-Eligible Pregnant andPostpartum Women7. Estimating Eligibility Based on Meeting Nutritional RiskCriteria8. Estimating WIC Participation Among Eligible People9. Options for Estimating Eligibility and Participation10. SummaryReferencesAppendix A: Data Sources and Coverage IssuesAppendix B: Nutritional Screening and Budget EstimatesAppendix C: Reconciling Different Estimates of Income andAdjunctive EligibilityAppendix D: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff