Description/Abstract
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government relaxed the physical presence requirements for applicants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to reduce the associated health risks for pregnant women, new mothers, and young children. Experts consider in-person application requirements an administrative burden that can constrain access to social services, but the causality of specific burdens on WIC has not previously been shown. This brief summarizes findings from a study that compared WIC caseload data collected across 738 counties in 10 U.S. states between January 2019 and May 2021 to determine how these waives affected WIC participation. The authors found that adoption of the physical-presence waiver increased WIC participation by 11%.
Document Type
Policy Brief
Date
11-13-2024
Keywords
Administrative burden, WIC, COVID-19
Language
English
Series
Policy Briefs Series
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Alyssa Kirk and Shannon Monnat for edits to a previous version of this brief.
Disciplines
Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy | Social Welfare
Recommended Citation
Heflin, Colleen, Fannin, William Clay, Lopoo, Leonard, and Barbin, Camille. (2024). Waiving Physical Presence Requirements During the COVID-19 Pandemic Increased WIC Caseloads. Center for Policy Research. Policy Brief #15. Accessed at: doi.org/10.14305/rt.cpr.2024.3.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
