Start Date: November 2024

ID #: 82566

Principal Investigator: Catherine Yepez, MPH

Co-Principal Investigator: Shannon Whaley, PhD

Organization: Heluna Health

Funding Round: HER Round 14

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In 2023 and 2024, after a decade of decreasing participation, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is witnessing a nationwide increase in program enrollment. This project will tackle 3 project aims to identify the policies, procedures, and technologies associated with increasing participation. Aim 1 will focus on California as a whole, utilizing the 2023 California WIC statewide survey to examine factors across the state that may influence WIC participation. Aim 2 drills down to the WIC clinic and participant level, utilizing administrative data from the largest local agency WIC program in the US, PHFE WIC, to test which policies, procedures, and technologies have the greatest potential to inform national policy on factors contributing to increased access to WIC. Aim 3 then focuses on dissemination of identified measures through the WIC research and policy communities across the country. Understanding factors that contribute to the increase in program participation, and how this may vary across a diverse set of WIC participants, can ensure that policies, procedures, and technologies designed to modernize the WIC experience are optimized to enhance program participation for families most in need of support. California has a caseload of over 1 million participants and PHFE WIC serves nearly 190,000 participants monthly in Los Angeles County. PHFE WIC serves a diverse population of families, with approximately 55% English speaking Hispanics, 26% Spanish speaking Hispanic, 8% Non-Hispanic (NH) Black or African American, 4% NH White, 4% Asian and 3% NH Other. The California statewide survey and WIC Administrative datasets are highly unique datasets that can be leveraged to optimally identify factors associated with WIC program access.

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