WIC supplemental nutrition program replaces paper vouchers with debit-style eWIC cards

New cards provide streamlined services and offer recipients more flexibility and discretion

Boulder County, Colo. - Families participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are now able to use debit-style eWIC cards at grocery stores instead of paper vouchers. 

WIC is a national public health program that helps to ensure access to fresh and nutritious foods for low-income infants, children, and breastfeeding and postpartum women. The streamlining of services makes the program more convenient and practical while eliminating some of the barriers to participation.  

Only 49% of eligible Boulder County children and 61% of eligible pregnant women are currently participating in the WIC program. According to a 2014 Feeding America study, about 11,000 Boulder County children had limited or uncertain access to fresh, nutritious, and affordable foods.

“The more families that have access to healthy foods, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support through the WIC program, the healthier our community will be overall,” said Boulder County WIC Program Manager Melinda Morris. “The streamlined system is a huge improvement for current participants and families that may have avoided WIC in the past due to the hassle of using vouchers.”

The new eWIC card offers families flexibility and discretion that paper vouchers couldn’t and eliminates issues that used to make grocery shopping trips difficult and inefficient.

The eWIC card allows participants to purchase as many or as few WIC foods as they need each time they shop. Under the paper voucher system, all WIC foods had to be separated from other items, and each voucher could only be used once. The new eWIC cards can also be reloaded remotely, and the PIN-protected cards give participants the flexibility to allow someone else to do their shopping, when necessary.

Families that include an infant, a child under age five, a pregnant woman, or a postpartum mother whose income is within 185% of the federal poverty level qualify for WIC benefits. One in every two babies nationwide qualifies for the program. Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants are automatically qualified for the program.

Boulder County Public Health administers WIC locally and roughly 3,600 people are enrolled. As part of the program, the agency also provides nutrition and breastfeeding counseling and referrals to other award-winning and nationally recognized services. 

More information about WIC is available at www.BoulderCountyWIC.org or by calling 303-413-7520 in Boulder, or 303-678-6130 in Longmont.

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