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Is Your WIC Program Ready for 2020?

Published Date
Author Jerry Owens

2017 is the number on the calendar, but the year 2020 is right around the corner. For administrators in charge of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in their state, 2020 has a particular urgency. While every state and territory has established a successful WIC program that fulfills basic nutritional needs and is essential to the livelihood of thousands of mothers and children across the country, change is coming.

A federal mandate requires all WIC programs to transition to Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) by 2020. Many states have already begun or even completed the process, but the complexity of implementation means that any state that hasn’t yet started is behind the curve.

Here’s the good news: the mandate to move to EBT is a great opportunity for programs to modernize and improve operations. It isn’t unusual for WIC programs to struggle with administrative complexities and inefficient processes; EBT helps mitigate or eliminate the challenges that hold paper-driven programs back: efficiency, convenience and accuracy. The other good news: states that have already implemented WIC EBT, especially online solutions, have seen dramatic improvements to their program for agencies, clinics, vendors and participants.

In our whitepaper, Implementing WIC EBT to Meet Federal Mandates and Improve WIC Programs, we walk through the entire process and explore the mandate requirements along with the benefits it brings to programs. We address challenges and discuss tips for agencies including minimizing costs and selecting the right system. Through examples of implementation in action we also show that transitioning to WIC EBT does more than digitize inefficient processes; it’s an opportunity to improve the entire process from start to finish.

To learn more about transitioning your WIC program to WIC EBT and the benefits it brings, download our whitepaper here.

We’ll also be attending the following WIC conferences in April — look for us there!

  • NWA 2017 Annual Education and Training Conference, April 2 – 5 in Philadelphia, PA
  • MI WIC Training conference, April 18-19 at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, Acme, MI
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