From the Arkansas Advocate:
Just over a third of eligible Arkansans participate in federal nutrition assistance aimed at low-income women and children, the second-lowest participation rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, increased participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) could improve maternal and infant health in a state where these groups face among the highest mortality rates nationwide, according to a Monday news release from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance has been working to increase WIC enrollment with the same goal, said Cathy May, the organization’s director of WIC outreach. She added that federal cuts to health insurance and food assistance programs for low-income people, which President Donald Trump signed into law Friday, will likely lead to more people “looking for ways to help with their grocery budgets.”
“Some of [the cuts] are slated to roll out in a little bit of time, but I think we’re already going to start seeing ripple effects in our charitable food network and other areas,” May said.
Only 35% of WIC-eligible Arkansans participate in the assistance program, compared to the national average of 51%, according to the CDC.
Arkansas has the nation’s highest rate of food insecurity, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released in September 2024. Additionally, the state has one of the nation’s highest maternal mortality rates and the third highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
WIC usage “carries less stigma for participants than other government assistance programs,” according to the UAMS news release, but community health workers told UAMS researchers during a 2023 study that “many of their clients have experienced confusion when it comes to eligibility criteria and the availability of WIC-approved foods.”
Low-income Arkansans might be under the impression that being ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) means they are also ineligible for WIC, but this is not true, “because the income guidelines are far looser for WIC than they are for SNAP,” May said.
SNAP-eligible Arkansans currently must have a gross income below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines — currently $19,578 for an individual and $40,560 for a family of four — and a net income below 100% of this threshold.
However, WIC-eligible Arkansans’ income must be below 185% of the federal poverty line, which is $27,861 for an individual and $57,720 for a family of four.
Additionally, U.S. citizenship is not a requirement to receive WIC benefits while it is for SNAP benefits.
Arkansas is home to the largest Marshallese community in the country, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. They are considered lawful non-immigrant U.S. residents and eligible for many programs open to citizens. They have not always been eligible for SNAP, though their eligibility was restored last year after federal law cut it in 1996.
While Marshallese people can apply for WIC if eligible, most of them only use it for infant formula, said Philmar Mendoza-Kabua, a Marshallese project manager and nurse educator at the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, in Monday’s news release.
UAMS research in 2023 showed that 80% of Marshallese women and 81% of other Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander women in Arkansas reported needing assistance applying for WIC. Nationally, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women experience the lowest rates of WIC enrollment, according to the CDC.
May and Mendoza-Kabua agreed that WIC-accessible food products should align with the dietary preferences and traditions of minority groups such as Marshallese people.
UAMS includes “improvements in culturally appropriate food options and flexibility for individual preferences of food” among its recommendations for ways to encourage WIC participation. Other recommendations include focusing outreach efforts on underserved areas and addressing “logistical challenges such as language and transportation barriers.”
Insufficient transportation can be the main thing preventing a household from enrolling in WIC, May said, because an assessment by an Arkansas Health Department dietitian is necessary to determine WIC eligibility. Rural families might not have the means to travel to a dietitian’s clinic during its hours of operation.
The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance has discussed ways to bridge this gap in services with the Health Department, May said.
“If there could be satellite [department] locations where a family may be already going in a rural area, which most of the time doesn’t have public transportation, that would be a way for people that are eligible to be able to go through the assessment without having so many barriers,” she said.
As of last year, at least half of Arkansas WIC recipients are considered “high-risk” and are required to meet with a registered dietitian within 45 days of enrollment, but the Health Department had only 13 dietitians serving the entire state, agency officials told lawmakers in September.
A legislative panel approved $500,000 in federal funds to build an online platform for the WIC program, which May and other hunger relief advocates said could help reduce food insecurity.
